TES Episode 11: A Smirking Shadow
by John the Enforcer
Summary: John and his friends return to Mobius to find their leader charged crimes he did not commit. Now they must find the perpatrator...that is, if they live long enough to discover the gruesome truth...


THE ENFORCER SAGA Episode 11: A Smirking Shadow By John "the Echidna" Fadeley 

"Fear...fear attracts the fearful...the strong...the weak...the innocent...the corrupt...fear...fear is my ally."-Darth Maul

The date: April 3, 3238, 12:46 PM

The black, arrowhead-shaped craft known as the ShadowHunter screamed through the atmosphere of Mobius, heading for one destination and one destination only: The Floating Island. The reason? It was being pursued!  
In the cockpit of the Ditanium-Alloy plated ship, its owner, the former echidna bounty hunter John the Enforcer was in mental turmoil. What had happened while he and his friends were on Chandral? More importantly, what were Geoffrey St. John, a skunk and leading member of King Maximillian Acorn's Secret Service, and all of those ships after him for? His head began to hurt as these questions swirled about in his brain.  
"Sir, I'm tracking about 15 ships behind us, closing in fast. Whoever owns them, the ships are unmarked and are, for this sector of space, illegally modified." Heavy, his Chief Mechanix drone reported, "They could be bounty hunters, sir"  
"Neon, how close are we to the Floating Island?" John asked to his female Detrossian lieutenant.  
"Well, given our current speed and theirs, they could be hauling our tails in for whatever price they've been offered in about...6 minutes..." Neon replied.  
"Great..." John muttered.  
Finally, the Floating Island appeared on the horizon.  
"Excellent." John thought as he opened a secure frequency to his base, "This is Dark Guardian to Home Base. Come in, Home Base"  
What came over the communication link wasn't encouraging. There were hisses of static...coupled with metal plates banging and electrical sparks arcing.  
"Dark Guardian to Home Base, please respond! Anyone!" John called again. This was not good.  
Suddenly, a blast rocked the ShadowHunter.  
"Sir, the mercenary ships are now within firing range of our ship." Heavy reported, "If they land so much as a proton torpedo into the engine"  
"I get it! I get it!" John said as he quickly began typing in a button sequence, "Heavy, lock onto the other ships with our seeker missles"  
After a few moments, Heavy replied, "Lock confirmed, sir"  
"FIRE!" John commanded.  
Immediately, the screams of the missles were heard...but much to John's shock, the missles completely missed the attacking craft.  
"Sir, according to the infrared scanners, they're not giving off too much heat...and you know seeker missles track heat." Heavy reported further.  
"I guess that for you, John, this is a normal day in your time as a bounty hunter." Neon joked.  
"Not funny, Neon!" John remarked, "We have to return to FICC, recooperate, then find out what I'm being accused of doing"  
The ShadowHunter began to speed ahead to its destination.  
Adonna-Lyn, John's wife and daugher of the Supreme Ruler of the neighboring world of Chandral, came up to the bridge and asked, "What in the name of Chandala is going on"  
"Well, remember how John used to be bounty hunter?" Vector asked.  
"Yes." Adonna-Lyn answered.  
"Well, we're being attacked by what would be considered his rivals." Heavy finished.  
"John, what have you done now?" Adonna-Lyn asked, her hands on her hips.  
"THAT'S WHAT I'D LIKE TO KNOW!" John exclaimed, "...Sorry...our last adventure really freyed my nerves"  
"I've noticed." Adonna-Lyn replied, quite taken aback by her husband's reaction.  
"Good news, sir! I've established a remote control link with FICC...I can have the outer defenses ready and the front door open to let us in shortly." Heavy reported.  
"Make it so, Heavy." John commanded.

The ShadowHunter outmanuevered the bounty hunters' ships while the main door and outer defenses were activated. A string of turbolasers sprung up out of the ground and opened fire on John's attackers. Ten of the the fifteen were struck down by the laserfire and further incinerated to insure that no debris crashed onto the island. Seemingly, the other vehicles beat a hasty retreat.  
Finally, the ShadowHunter flew into the main door and down the corridor that would lead its occupants into FICC. "Hold on, everybody! This is going to be a rough ride!" John shouted to his friends.  
Hanako, not used to John's rough piloting skils, clung onto anything she could get her paws on. "MUST YOU FLY LIKE A MANIAC?!" she shouted up at John.  
"Sorry, but I'd rather get in here quick and..." John began...until he managed to slow down and park the ShadowHunter in his base's Docking Bay.  
The sights that greeted him were not pleasent.  
Five out of ten of the truck-shaped carrier craft were blasted to burning scrap. Two experimental fighters John was working on were flattened into metal plates. Bits of the plating on the walls had lines like they were ripped into by a wild...and LARGE...animal!  
"By Chandrala..." Neela muttered, her emerald-green eyes transfixed with the horrific scene.  
"You said it, squirrel girl." Vector commented.  
"Alright...guys, I'm going out into the base to take a look around. I need all of you to remain in the ShadowHunter until I absolutely make sure the coast is clear." John ordered as he strapped on his weapons.  
"John, won't ya need back-up?" Mighty asked.  
"If I need it, Mighty, I'll call for it." John said, patting Mighty's armored back, "I don't want to risk any of your lives, so I want all of you to stay put until I have some idea of what happened here"  
"John...please be careful..." Adonna-Lyn said, holding John's hand.  
"I will be." John said with a confident smile, "That's a promise." With that, he stepped out of the ShadowHunter and into his base.  
His friends watched as he moved to the door that would lead into the hallways of FICC. He took very cool, careful, cautious steps, looking in every direction. Hanako got an eerie sense of what John was like while he was a bounty hunter...

John checked the hallways carefully. Whatever did the damage to his home could still be around...HISSSSSS! John whipped around, aiming his blaster...at a steam pipe.  
"Phew Thank goodness that was all it was..." he thought to himself.  
He finally reached the Central Control room. Here, he could monitor all of FICC.  
"Aptiva, respond." John commanded.  
"Aptiva online, Unit John." Aptiva replied.  
"Aptiva, what happened here?" he asked.  
After a slight pause, FICC's central computer replied, "Data unavailable"  
"WHAT?!" John shouted. Knowing that arguing with a computer would get him nowhere, he then asked, "Aptiva, is there anyone here in the base other than me, Vector, Mighty, Neon, Neela, Adonna-Lyn, and Heavy"  
"Units Charmy, Bomb, and Caylis are still within the base, ventilation shaft 5. Unit Espio is not on the grounds, currently." Aptiva replied..."Alert! Unauthorized prescence detected within ShadowHunter! Preparing countermeasures-link within ShadowHunter"  
"Cancel that. That is...Unit Hanako Fairhall." John said, rubbing his temples. He completely forgot to make sure that the young mooncat/echidna mix was logged in as a welcomed guest.  
After another pause, Aptiva responded, "Cancellation confirmed"  
"Phew! That was too close." John thought to himself.  
"Your attention, please! Unauthorized access detected at Zoom Tubes 1, 3, 4, and 9!" Aptiva announced.  
"WHAT?!" John screamed. He checked the surveillance cameras topside and saw some rather tough-looking Mobians of varying species blast open the supposedly secure locks to the Zoom Tubes, elevators that led to and from John's underground home.  
"Aptiva, activate all possible defenses, topside and within the base." John commanded.  
"Error! Power drain detected. Unable to power up defenses." Aptiva warned, "Drain traced to the Master Emerald"  
"Ooooooh, DAMN YOU, KNUCKLES!" John cursed, knowing full well that Knuckles hated his guts and love of technology. Now, the red-skinned Guardian was letting these bounty hunters into his home!

At the Zoom Tube Bay...

"Alright, gentlemen..." the leader of this group of mercenaries, a female echidna in a green jumpsuit with a helmet completely concealing her head, said, "Remember, we want him alive, so set all of your weapons to STUN. Lethal measures only on my orders. Hackard, give me his location"  
A partially roboticized mole stepped up to a bit of plating on the wall, ripped it off with his right robotic arm, then hooked up a wire into a computer port. His left eye, also roboticized, turned green. He then turned to the echidna and said, "He's in the Central Control Room. Thanks to the Guardian, he can't activate any of the automatic defenses down here"  
"Heh, to think, we're using his own base against him by tracking him with the base's sensors." Nack, the infamous jewel thief and bounty hunting weasal laughed, "King Acorn's reward is as good as ours"  
"Don't get cocky!" a coyote with a scar across his neck and eyes, named Derrick, armed with a net launcher growled, "If all the tales I've heard about the Enforcer are true, he'll be one tough son of a bitch to take down"  
"Uh-oh...we've got a problem." Hackard reported.  
"What is it?" the female echidna asked.  
"We've got a Royal Secret Service ship inbound. ETA: 18 minutes." the mole replied.  
"That royal...cheap bastard..." the echidna snarled, "Lock and load, boys! If we nail the Enforcer, we'll receive that 10 million Mobium bounty and split it evenly. Hackard, see if you can keep those Secret Service bums out of here long enough for us to capture our target"  
"Yes, ma'am!" Hackard replied.

"Typical." John thought as he watched them from the many screens of FICC's monitors, "Just like me in my older days, their sole motivation...money"  
Some of the hunters split off from the main group...they were heading for the Hangar! "Damn it! If they find my friends there...well, I'll make sure they don't!" John growled as he pressed a few buttons.

The female echidna watched in great surprise as a solid wall of metal slammed down in front of her split-off group...and another wall from behind them came down, cutting them off! She heard their cries, terrified and confused...there was a thud, then their screams became distant, as if they were falling...accompanied with the soft whistling of the wind...and the final thud!  
"Holy..." Nack began to curse.  
Derrick growled, "Why, that...murderous...inhuman"  
"Stow it! We're moving on...and this time, keep your eyes peeled." the echidna remarked.  
Nack and Derrick looked at each other nervously.  
"Hackard, I need an update here." the echidna said through a communicator in her helmet, "We just lost FIVE of our guys"  
"Our target just dumped them down a trapdoor...that leads all the way down to the bottom side of the island." Hackard replied, his voice shaking, "If you ask me, I think we're in WAY over our heads here. We ARE on his home turf, you know"  
"SHUT UP!" the female snarled, "How can all of you suddenly forget what that murdering maniac has done? We wouldn't be the way we are now if it weren't for him! I won't rest until I either see him behind bars or in pieces! IS THAT UNDERSTOOD"  
"Yes, sir." Nack joked, snickering a little.  
"For the moment, I'm going to pretend you didn't say that..." the echidna growled as she pounded against a wall...and left a sizable dent!

"Jumpin'..." John gasped, viewing the echidna's recent act of violence upon his home, "What the hell is she hopped up on"  
Suddenly, he heard a pounding against one of the doors that lead into the Central Control room...they knew where he was! With that, he hooked up the input/output jack from the back of his neck into the computer and uploaded something into the computer. Once he was finished, he had the device retract back into his spinal column.  
"Aptiva, shut off the monitors and lighting for this room." John whispered.  
"Command confirmed." Aptiva replied.  
With that, the room became pitch black.  
"Armor, activate." John said with a slight grin...maybe he'd have a little fun with these mercenaries...

"Finally!" Nack said as the echinda female finally busted down the door.  
Slowly, they made their way into the room. They carefully aimed their weapons about them. The room was so freakishly dark.  
"Hackard, I need some illumination in here..." the female echidna demanded.  
"Sorry, babe...say...-gain...-eaking...up..." Hackard said over the line.  
"Say again, Hackard, say again..." the female echidna said over her comm unit.  
Eerily, another voice said, "We're sorry. Your call can't be completed at this time. Please hang up...and get out of my home...NOW"  
Realizing what was happening, she quickly whispered to her fellow bounty hunters to take up defensive positions. However, when she was supposedly going back-to-back with TWO bounty hunters, she was a little surprised to be one doing so...with ONE!  
"Jade, is that you?" Derrick asked.  
"Yeah...where's Nack?" the female echidna asked...just as there was a heavy thud off to her left. She turned on a flashlight...it was Nack!  
Derrick went over to Nack. The weasal was unconcious, but alive...and had a distinctive puncture wound in his shoulder. Suddenly, the same thing happened to Derrick! She watched as something wrapped around his neck and pulled him upwards...a scream, a stabbing of flesh...and Derrick fell down, the same puncture wound in his shoulder.  
"Shit..." Jade whispered...just as she felt something curl around her neck..."Oh no, ya don't"  
She grabbed ahold of it and (much to John's shock) she pulled him out of the rafters above and slammed him down on the ground!  
John, surprised as he was about this turn of events, did not slow up for a minute. He did a quick sweep with his right leg to trip her up...only to see that she leaped upward...and was bringing her left foot into position to crush his throat once she landed!  
He rolled out of the way and Force-Pushed the female bounty hunter against the wall, knocking off her helmet in the process. John gasped for a moment. With the exception of a scar that ran down over her left eye, she was quite pretty. Oddly enough, she was completely green, or rather, different shades of green. Her hair was a forest green, her eyes were emerald green, nearly every part of her was green...even though she was turning red in the face because of her fury.  
John tilted his head to one side to avoid one of her punches...only to be given an uppercut that sent him crashing into the celing!  
"Okay...that's IT! I'm done playing around!" John growled as he dislodged himself from the celing and dropped down to confront the female again.  
This time, he let the dreadlocks of his armor catch her in their strong grip. With her properly restrained, he focused his mental telepathy, meaning to delve into her mind and find out why she was so filled with rage at the very sight of him.  
What he saw was a young (10 years old, at most), purple-skinned echidna, tears streaming from her eyes. At the foot of a being with glowing red eyes was what appeared to be a pile of scrapped robots...she lunged angrily at the being...only to be thrown back by the vile power he wielded...bash right through a railing behind her...and fall into a vat filled with some kind of chemicals. She emerged from the vat, every part of her now every shade of green (after a lost amount of time struggling to get out of the vat.  
Her last sight was of the murdering monster, his blue skin interrupted with black stripes, his teeth needle-shaped & sharp, and his eyes red and cruel. He left, laughing wickedly at the destruction he had caused.  
It made perfect sense.  
"I know you were in my mind, muderer!" the green-skinned female shouted at him, choked up by the memory he viewed, "Those robots you scrapped were MY PARENTS! They were roboticized by Robotnik...the process could've been reversed...but you ripped them apart! You destroyed the only family I ever knew"  
"They attacked me...I killed them only to defend myself." John said, "I'm sorry"  
"LIAR!!!" Jade shouted as she managed to find some purchase on the ground...and tossed John over her shoulders.  
"Geez, what the hell are you on?!" John muttered...before he got kicked in the face.  
"Actually, other than turn every part of me green, that vat of chemicals altered my genetic structure. I'm now strong enough to clobber you out of your armor and bring you in for a big fat reward!" she said while cracking her knuckles.  
"And what will you do after that?" John asked as he struggled to get back on his feet, "Taking me in won't ease the pain of losing your parents"  
"No...but it will make me feel a helluva lot better knowing I've put scum like you in your place...behind bars, that is!" Jade said as she pulled the red Chaos Emerald from its socket in John's armor.  
"Note to self: Remember to install casing that will keep that Chaos Emerald OUT OF THE ENEMY'S HANDS!" John thought as the armor's life-support system began to shut down. "Armor: Deactivate"  
As John deactivated his armor, he heard a slightly gasp from Jade. "Man, I hope King Max offers a larger bounty, cuz you're cute!" she said.  
John, bewildered, asked, "What?"

Back on the ShadowHunter...

"HEY!" Adonna-Lyn shouted angrily, her normally purple eyes taking on a slight tinge of green, "GET THE HARAK'THA AWAY FROM MY HUSBAND, YOU MERCENARY FLOOZY"  
"Your Highness, with all due respect, I doubt she can hear you from within the ShadowHunter." Heavy said.  
"Then I'll deal with her directly." Adonna-Lyn said through her clenched teeth. With that, the echidna princess turned and headed for the airlock.  
"Whoa, princess, reality check!" Vector advised, "She kicked John's butt...even with his armor on"  
"YOU HEARD WHAT SHE SAID! THE ONLY PERSON AROUND HERE WHO RESERVES THE RIGHT TO CALL HIM CUTE IS ME!" Adonna-Lyn snapped.  
Hanako, still with the group, snickered, "Pretty jealous, aren't you"  
"Jealous? Who's jealous?! I'm NOT JEALOUS!" Adonna-Lyn insisted.  
Mighty cautioned, "Hanako, don't push it"  
"Is it me, or are you turning greener than usual?" Hanako joked.  
Mighty slapped his head.  
Heavy waddled up to Hanako and said, "Miss Fairhall ...sweetheart...RUN." With that, the robot scurried out of the way.  
"You know, if you're weren't a Jedi, there would be nothing left of you but ashes for that remark." Adonna-Lyn said through her clenched teeth as she gently pushed Hanako out of the way and went for the airlock.  
Letting out a breath of relief, Hanako said, "Man, I guess I AM lucky to be a Jedi"  
"You really have a deathwish!" Mighty scolded, "By now, you should know better than to piss HER off"  
"I'm just joking around with her...and...well,...oh, never mind." Hanako said, looking away for a moment.  
Vector came up to her and asked, "So...are you...ya know, seeing anyone"  
"I'll have you know, you hormone-crazy croc, I already have a boyfriend." Hanako said, her arms crossed over her chest.  
"WHA...okay...who is it?" Vector asked calmly after a moment of surprise and disappointment.  
"Ben Wolfson...sigh" Hanako purred...only to brought our of her thoughts by hearing Vector snickering, "What's so funny"  
"Ben Wolfson?! That brown-noser?! HA!" Vector laughed, "You'll be lucky if you can get any form of a love life out of him"  
Neon growled a bit and shouted, "VECTOR, HOW CAN YOU BE SUCH AN IGNORANT MORON?! THERE'S MORE TO A RELATIONSHIP THAN THAT"  
"That coming from someone who refuses a date with me with every chance I get..." Vector muttered.  
"Maybe because I'm afraid you'll take my head off if you try to kiss me." Neon jibed.  
"GAH! That ain't true and you know it, woman!" Vector snapped, "I kissed you once and you certainly weren't bleeding from that"  
Neon, stunned that Vector revealed that, hissed, "WILL YOU SHUT UP"  
"Awe, c'mon, Neon. I wasn't that bad, was I?" Vector asked.  
"IF YOU DON'T SHUT UP, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Neon shouted as she lunged at the crocodile.  
Mighty broke up the two reptiles before the fight even started, saying, "C'mon! Knock it off, both of you! Don't you think we should back Adonna-Lyn up"  
"I don't think that would be wise." Neela advised, "I know her when she's like this...besides, she can handle things herself"  
"I know, but...given what this bounty huntress has done to John, I think Adonna-Lyn may be in way over her head." Mighty said while shaking his head...

Adonna-Lyn crept up the Central Control Room, where she saw this bounty huntress "putting the moves" on John. This made her dark green blood boil.  
Of course, John was resisting, as she knew he would, but it irritated her that any other female would show the kind of interest in him the way she did.  
"You know, we are in the same line of work..." Jade said.  
"Except for the fact that I'm retired from it." John said.  
"But what about your victims...did they have prices on their heads...or was it just to relive the thrill of the hunt?" Jade asked.  
"What are you going on about?! I don't even know what I'm being arrested for!" he protested, "And besides, I'm already married"  
"Oh, really? To whom?" Jade asked.  
"To ME, that's who! Now get away from him!" Adonna-Lyn snapped while stepping into the room.  
Jade took one look at Adonna-Lyn and started snickering, "What the hell is this?! Is this some kind of joke? Go back to that costume party you're dressed for, sister"  
John's eyes widened with terror. This bounty huntress was REALLY asking for it now, making fun of Adonna-Lyn's clothing...not to mention putting the moves on him.  
"For your information, Mobian, these are my natural clothes...and I repeat...GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Adonna-Lyn yelled.  
"Who's going to make me? Some harem-clad bimbo like you?" Jade taunted.  
That was pretty much the last straw.  
Adonna-Lyn lunged forward with a sweeping high kick...but Jade caught her foot with her left hand!  
"Wha...AAAAAH!" Adonna-Lyn yelped before she was thrown back by the bounty huntress. This Jade was certainly stronger than she gave her credit for.  
Adonna-Lyn then lauched a psychic beam at Jade...which she dodged!  
"Is that all you've got?" Jade taunted.  
"I'm going to stay out of this one..." John said while slightly crawling away.  
"Not so fast, handsome!" Jade said as she grabbed Derrick's net-launcher and fired! The net had its bolos wrap around John until one of them smacked John in the face! And as if that wasn't enough, a powerful electric jolt went through the net, causing John to scream loudly. With a slight groan, John went down to the ground, unconcious.  
"Now, where were we?" Jade asked, cracking her knuckles as she glared at Adonna-Lyn.  
"I think we were right at the part where I kick your ass back to wherever you came from, bounty hunter." Adonna-Lyn hissed, "I will make you pay for what you did to my beloved"  
"Your what?" Jade asked...until she looked down at John, got the hint and made a funny face, "Oh, no! You're kidding me...you mean to tell me you LOVE this guy?! Lady, you can do better than HIM"  
That last remark resulted in a swift uppercut to Jade's jaw...but countered by a kick from the echidna bounty huntress' left foot across Adonna-Lyn's face. The impact sent Adonna-Lyn to the floor again...but this was also countered by a sweep of her legs, tripping Jade to the ground!  
With the bounty huntress down, she quickly stabbed Jade with her spur, injecting her paralyzing venom to knock the huntress out...if only for a few seconds.  
"Open up in there, by order of his Majesty, King Maximillion Acorn!" a voice shouted while pounding on the door.  
Her blood ran cold. It was the members of Royal Secret Service!  
"Adon..." she heard John say to her telepathically, "Get out of here...if they catch you...I don't even want to think what will happen...just go! I'll be okay...I hope"  
With one last, love-lorn look at her husband, she teleported out of the room...just as Jade began to recover...and as the Secret Service agents got the door open. Geoffrey St. John was amongst them.  
"Well, Jada-Ra, it certainly looks like you nabbed the blue bastard." Geoffrey said while advancing towards the unconcious blue echidna.  
"Hey, not so fast, you skunk! Cash on delivery, or no sale! Get me?" Jade insisted, stepping in front of John.  
Geoffrey fretted for a moment, then pulled out a credit chit, pressed a few buttons on it, then turned it over to Jada-Ra. "There's your reward, bounty hunter. Now, if you'll excuse us, we've a menace to put out of everyone's"  
"HEY! What's the deal here?!" Jada-Ra shouted, "There's only 500 thousand on this chit! Where's my 10 MILLION"  
"Well, we're a bit low on funds, rebuilding a kingdom and all...not to mention re-fueling, armaments, man-power..." Geoffrey listed.  
"This is a total load of bull!" Jada-Ra yelled, "Do you have any idea of the trouble I went to nail this guy"  
That remark resulted in a multitude of guns being aimed her way.  
"Would it be as much trouble as all this?" Geoffrey asked, gesturing to the aimed weapons and flicking the toothpick he was using at her.  
Jade fumed for a moment...then said, "No"  
"Good." Geoffrey said, "Alright, boys, we got who we came for. Let's move out"  
Once all of the Secret Service agents had left, Jade looked down at the credit chit, connected it to a P.A.D.D (Personal Account Data Device) that she had and downloaded the amount into her account...then crushed the chit in her hands. "Cheap-ass bastards..." Jada-Ra muttered angrily as she turned to leave.

Back on the ShadowHunter...

"Awe, man...I didn't see this...I didn't see this..." Vector muttered in disbelief while pushing the button for the monitor...,"WHY WON'T THIS DAMN THING TURN OFF"  
"Because you're pressing the ON button." Heavy answered, shaking his head.  
"Oh...right..." Vector said.  
"So...now what do we do?" Mighty asked, "I mean, John's been arrested for whatever the reason, Espio's not in the base"  
"Well, we're going to get our act together and find a way to prove John didn't do what he stands accused of." Adonna-Lyn said as she walked toward them.  
"Hmm...this is curious..." Heavy said.  
"What is, Heavy?" Adonna-Lyn asked.  
"Well, John was using that input/output jack into the mainframe of Aptiva just before that motley crew of mercenaries busted into the Central Control Room." Heavy pointed out on a playback, "It would appear that John has done something here...perhaps left a message or something"  
"John left us a message...THAT quickly?" Hanako asked in disbelief.  
"John is, after all, very technologically minded, Hanako." Heavy answered, "I think we should all head to the Central Control Room and see what this message is"  
With that said and done, John's followers and friends emerged from the ShadowHunter and made their way to the Central Control Room as Heavy suggested. Upon entering, they were joined by Charmy, Bomb and Caylis, the last one pouncing happily into Neon's arms.  
"Hey, baby...did you miss your Mommy?" Neon said as she cuddled the dragdogon. It replied with a happy yelp and a swift lick along Neon's chin.  
"Ugh, spare me..." Vector gagged.  
After hearing that, Caylis growled, leaped and bit down on Vector's tail!  
"YEEEEEEOOOOOOW!!!" Vector cried out, "GET'EMOFF! GET'EMOFF! GET'EMOFF"  
"Looks like Neon's baby says 'Hi to you, too', Vector." Charmy laughed.  
Heavy plugged into the main computer with his own input/output jack and, after a while, reported "Your Highness, I've found the file John has downloaded into the main computer...it's heavily encrypted, so it might take a while for me hack through it"  
Adonna-Lyn nodded her fair head and ordered, "Make it so, Heavy."

Aboard the RSS vessal...

"Sir, he's coming around." one of the Royal Secret Service agents reported.  
"Oh, great...keep the tasers on full charge. I don't want the blue bastard slipping from our fingers...or it will be my ass on the line, understand?" Geoffrey commanded.  
In spite of what Geoffrey stated, John had no intention of escaping (considering he was chained to the wall). One, it would further prove his guilt (even if he hadn't done...whatever he was being accused of). And two, if he was going to get to the bottom of this, he had to play along...after all, with part Chandralite DNA (the means of which he could heal himself), he could take whatever that smelly git had in store for him.  
The door opened...Geoffrey stepped in cautiously, aiming his arm-mounted crossbow at John.  
"No funny business, blue boy...this thing is tipped with frinka venom. One false move, and you'll be paralyzed in seconds!" Geoffrey threatened.  
John laughed out loud, "You really are an idiot, you know that?! No poisons you have can harm me! Something I owe to my DNA"  
Geoffrey growled...then punched John across the face!  
"So...are you going to tell me what I'm guilty of?" John asked, a hiss in his voice as he recovered from the blow.  
"You of all people should know, murderer!" Geoffrey roared at him.  
"Murderer?! But I haven't killed anyone...atleast, not recently...and deserving of it..." John said meekly.  
"SHUT UP!" Geoffrey snapped as he hit John again, "As it stands, you stand accused of kidnapping and murder! You want to add lying to an officer to your crimes"  
John wanted to let him have it...but that would only incriminate him further. "Geoffrey, use your head for once in your life! You saw my ship leaving Chandral! I wasn't on Mobius whenever these abductions and murders occured!" John retorted.  
"Well, it won't matter...you already have the crimes of attacking Princess Sally..." Geoffrey snorted.  
"That was WAY back when I was amongst her bunch! Surely, she couldn't have held THAT against me!" John argued "SEVERAL TIMES!" Geoffrey snapped.  
"Don't tell me you're counting that time during that whole Chaos affair and that time when that spider-beast's soul took over my body." John said.  
"Damage to public property..." Geoffrey listed onward.  
"Not to split hairs or anything, but it was the Order of Darkness who had a hand in that, too." John cooly said.  
"And now your current crimes." Geoffrey said, "We've found seven teenage girls over the span of this week...horribley mutilated and murdered...a Jedi identified YOUR prescence about the corpses"  
"WHA...THIS IS BULLCRAP!" John yelled, "That's just not possible! I was on Chandral the whole time"  
"And what, pray tell, were you doing back in your base? Resting after nights of killing?" Geoffrey said, "You do have your reputation of being a murderous bounty hunter...as well as your darker tendencies"  
"ARE YOU AS DEAF AS YOU ARE AN ASSHOLE?! I DIDN'T MURDER THESE PEOPLE!!!" John loudly objected.  
That remark resulted with a taser jabbing his midsection and sending him back against the wall from the electric shock.  
"Let's get him down to the station...I know just the guy to keep an eye on him until I can process the necessary means to get him shipped to the Devil's Gulag." Geoffrey said,..."In the meantime, give him a few more zots to keep him peaceable"  
"Peaceable, my ass..AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" John screamed as the tasers repeatedly hit their marks.  
Geoffrey grinned a bit. He knew of John's healing abilities...it was one of the best parts about causing the blue echidna pain...making it hard for John to bring charges against him for police brutality...

Back at FICC...

Adonna-Lyn felt herself being lifted gently by Mighty and Neela. "Wha...what happened?" the echidna princess asked as she steadily got back on her feet by herself.  
"Well, you were making sounds like you were being pummeled in the face...and then you screamed as if you were being killed!" Mighty said, "Are you okay"  
"It's...it's my empathic link with John. Whatever either one of us feels, the other feels it, too." Adonna-Lyn explained, "From what I could sense, John was being punched...then stabbed with some kind of electrical weapons"  
"Hmph, sounds like Stinky St. John." Vector remarked with a snort, " 'Never did like that stiff-shirt sonuvabitch"  
"Who?" Adonna-Lyn asked quizically.  
"He's referring to Geoffrey St. John, Commander of the Royal Secret Service of the House of Acorn." Hanako answered, "By all counts, he's an arrogant creep who certainly doesn't mind a round of fisticuffs, even against someone of unequal standing with him. Plus, he's been putting the moves on Princess Sally. Even I think Sonic's better for her than that jerk"  
"Sirs and Madames, I've finally decoded what John uploaded into the Central Computer...it appears to be a holographic message." Heavy reported.  
"Alright, let's see it." Adonna-Lyn requested.  
Heavy brought out the holographic display unit, concealed below the floor. It lit up and brought up a blue-shaded hologram of John.  
"I see you've found my message...if I've been captured/arrested, press 1 now. If I've been killed, press 2 now." the holographic John stated.  
"Well, this doesn't take an Astromech to figure out..." Heavy remarked as he pressed "1" on the main keyboard.  
Then, as if someone had tossed a rock into a puddle, there was a rippling effect...and John said, "Well, you guys have seen what has happened...and you also know the truth. However, the rest of Mobius is conviced otherwise. You know what lies ahead of you: Find the true culprit behind whatever I'm being accused of doing, bring them to justice with hard evidence and prove my innocence"  
"Well, then...I guess all that's left is setting up the chain of command." Vector said casually, "And I think I know what John's gonna say"  
"Guys, Adonna-Lyn is in charge in my abscence, followed by Neon." Holo-John said.  
"Wha..." Vector stammered in shock.  
"Don't worry about it, Vector. Think of it as John using proper judgement." Neon said, mock-patting Vector on the back.  
"One last thing...wherever I'm being held at, DO NOT attempt to break me out. I know how crest-fallen you all must feel about this...but if I am extracted from my 'temporary lodgings', it will only further prove to my captors that I AM GUILTY." John urgently stated, "We've been through worse situations, but be on your guard, my friends...and may the Force be with you"  
With that said and done, the hologram disappeared.  
"Well, now since that's taken care of, let's get to work." Adonna-Lyn commanded, "First, we'll get this base back up and running...in case whatever did this damage to the base comes back...then, we're going to"  
"So, I've been killed...AVENGE ME!" John's voice roared.  
Everyone looked...and saw Charmy near the panel..."What? I wanted to see what the other one was." he said.  
"Oh." Vector said, understanding Charmy's motivation.  
Before anyone of them could move a muscle, however, something looped around their ankles and hoisted them into the air! Adonna-Lyn looked as best she could, and saw wires made into snares. The snares led from overhead pipes all the way to the hallway leading to the Zoom Tube elevators.  
"What is going on?!" Hanako cried, frantically trying to bring herself upward to undo the snare around her ankles.  
"Geez, you guys are pathetic!" a snide voice remarked, "No wonder John wound up taken by those jerks so easily"  
"Espio, you asshole! I'd know that smug additude anywhere!" Vector recognized angrily.  
"Espio, if you don't let us down THIS VERY INSTANT, I will make you wish that your parents never met each other!" Adonna-Lyn ordered.  
"Okay, okay, sheesh..." that very same voice snapped as the Chaotix were lowered down...and Espio revealed himself close to the door. His look had somewhat changed...he had a scarf around his neck that matched the rest of his ochre scales, and his shoes now had bandages (or what looked like bandages) around his lower legs. Another thing the group had noticed was that now, Espio's gloves had gauntlets attatched...with daggers and throwing stars kept in sleeves along the gauntlets.  
"O-kay..." Neon said, a bit confused by Espio's new look.  
"Well, don't everyone jump up at once to ask, 'What's up with the new threads, Espio?'..." Espio grumbled.  
"Actually, I'm more interested in asking, 'WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!' If I recall correctly, John left YOU in charge!" Adonna-Lyn indicated angrily.  
"Had a surface-side emergency...nothing to concern anyone else..." Espio replied.  
"Well, either way, we have a mystery to solve and a good friend to prove the innocence of...let's get to it!" Adonna-Lyn commanded.

Knothole Village Police Station, 2:01 PM...

After a quick sip of coffee, Ben Wolfson, Captain of the Royal Police, returned to the paperwork on his desk.  
He was a Mobian Wolf with grey fur and yellow eyes...well, one yellow left eye and a cybernetic blue right eye. He was dressed in the standard uniform, blue suit with a shiny badge over the right side of his chest.  
"Ugh...anymore of this junk and I'll look into early retirement." Ben muttered to himself.  
As it was, the whole murder case that had Knothole and the slowly-being-restored Mobitropolis on edge was grating on his nerves. Seven girls, within the span of a week, all teenage or early 20's...nothing in common other than their age...disappear off the streets...only to turn up a while later looking like something tore then asunder like a wild animal. One common fact was that the victims were found with their heads missing...three with cauterized wounds at the neck, damage that only one weapon in the galaxy could do.  
Of course, Ben dismissed the Jedi instantly. The Jedi would NEVER turn a lightsaber on an innocent being...but a Dark Jedi...or a Sith.  
"Captain! Captain!" Max, an Arctic Fox Mobian, called as he burst into the room.  
Ben looked up, irritated at the junior officer. Max tended to be a goof-off and womanizer, both of which tended not to sit well with Ben.  
"This had better be important, Max..." Ben growled.  
"Just got the word on the Royal Secret Service lines: They got the murderer!" Max said excitedly.  
Ben stood up, a slight smile on his face. Finally, this case had come to a close. "Good...any other bits of good news?" Ben asked.  
"Well, here's the bad part of the news...Commander St. John needs to process the usual details before the murderer can be sent to the Devil's Gulag." Max answered.  
Ben grimly thought to himself, "Translation: He can't get off his lazy tail and just send this creep to Gulag himself"  
"So, the murderer is going to be put in our prison until then." Max finished.  
"WHAT?!" Ben shouted, "Is he nuts?! All the prisoners we have here are shoplifters, speeders, bank robbers...oh, and the nutcase that smuggler brought in...which the Kingdom of Acorn had to pay a hefty sum for. The last thing I want is a mass murderer in with them"  
"Yet, you will keep him here, Captain Ben Wolfson...that is a royal order from his Majesty, King Maximillian Acorn." Geoffrey ordered as they wheeled the perpatrator past Ben's office door.  
Ben growled a bit...the perp was an echidna!  
Some years ago, when Ben was but a pup, his home village was destroyed by an echidna in league with the late Dr. Robotnik...and his parents were murdered by the echidna...who was, coincidentally, Hanako Fairhall's uncle, Valik. Even though Hanako was part echidna and he never held that against her (mostly because to him, she was more cat than any of those spiny ant-suckers), he just hated echidnas...period.  
Ben couldn't help but notice bruises and signs of taser burns on the perp...that was a sure-fire sign of police brutality...one of the things he certainly didn't tolerate, murderer or not.  
"Who did this to him?" Ben asked.  
"He was giving us a bit of trouble on the way here." Geoffrey St. John answered as he entered, "We had to use force to get him to calm down"  
Ben sneered. He hated Geoffrey...just a step below echidnas, mind you, but he hated the arrogant, smelly bastard. Always sticking his nose around where it didn't belong, imposing his authority where it didn't belong...plain and simple, Geoffrey just didn't belong in his office.  
"You want to use force to calm a prisoner, bring a Jedi along with you." Ben snapped, "If he's gonna be here in MY prison, he will be treated in the usual manner...and that means no forceful methods of pacification. Do I make myself clear"  
"Well, let me make myself clear...my orders come from his Majesty, King Acorn...you want to argue with him?" Geoffrey asked, being smug about it.  
Ben growled a bit...then replied, "No"  
"Good. Glad we could agree on this matter like civilized beings." Geoffrey remarked.

John was brought to a cell and unceremoniously dumped in. He looked about the room.  
Two bunks, one above the other, a toilet with a curtain around it, and a sink..."Hmm, compared to some of the worst scrapes I've been in, this doesn't seem too bad..." John thought.  
He was about to lie down on the bottom bunk when a bulge from the top bunk hit him in the head. A bit irritated, he pushed up on the bulge...only to get whacked in the face by a thin, furry tail...that was mostly pink with purple spots.  
"Oh, please don't this be who I think it is..." John muttered.  
"Oh, but it is, bounty hunter!" a voice purred above him...before looping a line of bedsheet around John's neck!  
He looked up between his gagging to see NIBAI, grinning down at him!  
"You can't believe how much I've waited for this moment!" Nibai hissed at him, tightening her grip on the bedsheet.  
"Yeah...you said that back on Chandral...and on Cato Neimodia...and on Nar Shadaa...and on..." John recalled in between his gasps for air.  
"Don't you ever shut up?!" Nibai growled, "Or better yet, don't you ever DIE"  
"Not today..." John choked...before he grabbed Nibai by her hands, flung her over and into the cell's bars...where she felt an immediate shock!  
As John removed the bedsheet from around his neck, he commented, "Electrified bars...nice way to prevent a strangling on a passing officer...a pity I have to behind them with a psychopath like you"  
"Takes one to know one!" Nibai snapped, "Last I recall, one of the hunts you were on where I was the target, I could almost swear I heard you talking to yourself"  
"Okay, psycho-analysis aside, how did you wind up here?" John asked.  
Nibai looked at John, wondering why he would ask such a question,...then said, "If you must know, I took one of the escape pods from your ship...only for it to run out of fuel (or whatever) after one hyperspace jump! The next thing I know, I get picked up by some Devaronian asshole and his more-polite droid...and after that, I found myself in this cell"  
John laughed, "I don't believe it! You got bushwhacked by Vilmarh Grahrk?! Even I wouldn't be dumb enough to trust him"  
"Yeah, well..." Nibai sniffed...until she noticed a high-tech-looking collar around John's neck, "Ooh, nice neckware. Mind if I have it"  
"Um, Nibs, I wouldn't touch that if I were you..." John warned.  
Too late.  
Nibai received a severe shock that sent her right into the electrified bars!  
"Um, yeah...it's tamper-proof. It's basically hooked up to my neural jack in my neck. The minute it detects any synaptic energies and rise in my temper, it immediately releases some kind of signal that neutralizes my more offensive powers." John explained.  
"So, in other words, no blasts, no bursts, no mind-throws...translation: you're dead meat!" Nibai cackled as she tried to tackle John.  
He merely held out his hand...and Nibai hung above the ground, tumbling weightlessly.  
"I still have my Force abilites, limited though they are." John said, "Now, are you going to behave, or do I have to make you and the bars to this cell very close friends"  
Nibai nervously snickered and said, "I, uh, don't think that will be necessary"  
"Good." John said while redirecting her to the top bunk she was on, "Don't make me regret keeping you alive"  
Once Nibai was on the bunk, she asked, "So, what are you in for?"

Back at FICC...

"Murder and kidnapping...I mean, for his bounty hunting career, sure...but he was on Chandral with us the whole time..." Adonna-Lyn pondered...as she performed another twirl in Hologram Training Room 1, her dancer disguise's veils flowing about her.  
She often found that she concentrated on her thoughts better when she was in motion like this.  
The room about her looked like something from her homeworld: torches suspended from the celing, orange alabaster walls and pillars, piles of cushions, curtains billowing in the warm Chandralite breeze, even a fountain off to one side.  
And as an extra addition to the room, there was John.  
He was dressed in royal Chandralite garb, somewhat similar in color scheme to his usual Mobian clothes. A green vest, baggy black pants, black sandals with blue straps, with those red-rimmed glasses of his adorning his forehead like parody of a crown. His smile, the look from those silvery-blue eyes..."He looks so handsome..." she thought to herself.  
She then faked tripping up...and landed on the lap of her husband. She smiled for a moment, then ran her hand along John's left cheek...her smile faded. It felt so cold, so unfeeling,..."Who am I kidding? It's a close imitation...but that's all it is...just an imitation. By Chandrala, how I miss him..." she thought to herself sadly.  
"AHEM! Didn't know that THIS was how you meditated." a gravely voice said from the other side of the room. It was Vector.  
She was caught so unaware. She got to her feet immediately. The fake John just smiled into space.  
"Hey, hey, easy!" Vector said as he entered the room, "Didn't mean to rile you up like that"  
"You sure have a funny way of showing it!" she snapped, crossing her arms across her chest.  
"Look, the reason I came here was to tell ya that Heavy found somethin' and he wants ya to come to the lab." Vector explained.  
Her dreadlocks perked up a bit. "What kind of something?" she asked.  
"Tsch, got me." Vector said with a shrug, "He figured you'd know what he's talking about better than me...wait a minute"  
"Thanks, Vector!" she said as she teleported out of the room.  
"Eh, yeah...you're welcome." Vector said with a smile...forgetting that she had already teleported out of the room.  
"Hey, Vector! If you're done talking to yourself, how about giving me a hand with this pipe cover?!" Neon shouted.

In FICC's laboratory...

Heavy was busy scrutinizing the "something" he found with one of the analyzers in the lab when he heard a poof behind him and saw Adonna-Lyn, back in her casual garb.  
"Ah, so good of you to arrive." Heavy said, "I found this sticking out of a part of ripped-up wall...it appears to be a bit of flesh"  
"Flesh?" Adonna-Lyn gagged, looking at the analyzer's viewscreen of a writhing bit of mystery matter, "You mean it just ripped off"  
"To the best of my knowledge, yes...and it's still alive..." Heavy grimly added.  
"Alive?! How can that be?" she asked.  
"Well, that's what truly befuddles me. According to the scans, the flesh is slowly deteriorating...and yet it makes a slight effort to regenerate itself." Heavy said while scratching the top of his metal head.  
"Anything else about it?" Adonna-Lyn asked.  
"Well, that's another thing that confounds me..." Heavy said as the mitten-like part of his manipulators opened up, revealing finger-like manipulators, "This being, the one who utterly wreaked havoc upon FICC, seems to not have any similar DNA patterns to anything in our records"  
"...Biologically engineered, maybe?" she suggested.  
"Hmm...feasible...a long shot, but feasible." Heavy agreed, "I'll have to run some further tests and scans. In the meantime, it would be highly recommended that this information be relayed to John"  
"Right...and I think I know just who to talk to..." Adonna-Lyn said, a sly smirk on her face.

"Wait a damn minute...you want me to WHAT?!" Hanako asked harshly.  
"I'm just asking you to go on a date with me, that's all!" Vector said, "Show you that even we hard-scaled reptiles have our softer sides"  
"Forget it! Ben and I happen to be very close...and I definitely think that me dating you would go against his interests and mine!" Hanako remarked.  
"Hmph, just listen to her." Espio remarked while hanging upside-down from a pipe by his tail, his arms crossed over his chest, "Sounds like one of those prissy, high-society, ' I'm too good for you' types"  
"Oh, and what are you, royalty?" Hanako said with a confident smirk.  
The chaemeleon narrowed his eyes, snorted, and became invisible.  
"Look, Vector, plain and simple, it wouldn't work out between you and me. I'm a Jedi and you're...well...um...you're..." Hanako said.  
"A party animal...well, from what Neon's slithery friend told me, Benny-boy's too much of a paperwork-kinda-guy...and you want THAT in a mate?!" Vector choked.  
"LOOK, YOU! He is Captain of the Royal Security Force! He's not some hopeless pencil-pusher like that slithery, scaly, spying, prying, greedy bastard friend of Neon's suspsects!" Hanako shouted.  
"Isn't anger supposed to be against the Jedi code?" Espio remarked...only to wind up being hit in the face with well-placed punch from Hanako...while he was still invisible.  
Charmy flew in, saw Espio with blood trailing from his nose...then said, " 'Poked the Rancor' again, didn't you"  
"Shut up..." Espio grumbled.  
Adonna-Lyn entered this awkward scene...looked down at Espio...then at Hanako..."O-kay...Hanako, we need to talk for a moment." she said.  
Vector and Charmy gulped. They knew of the echidna princess' temper...and finding one of John's friends knocked down on the ground certainly wasn't a way to endear one's self to her.

Once alone, Adonna-Lyn said, "I need to speak with John. According to some spydrones Heavy sent out, he's being held in a local security station in Knothole. What do you know about the commanding officer there"  
"Ben Wolfson...he's been a Freedom Fighter since he was old enough to fight, he practices the use of magic for his job as Captain of Royal Security...and he's my...hee hee...fiance." Hanako explained, a bit giddy at her last word.  
Adonna-Lyn's eyebrows rose at the Hanako's explanation and remarked, "That's quite a resume.  
Hanako purred, her tail swishing back and forth, "And on top of that, he's soooooooooo CUTE"  
"Okay, okay, I understand." Adonna-Lyn laughed, "Look, I need to know everything about him. Personality, interests, the works"  
Hanako's eyes widened...then narrowed as she growled, "Oh no! I'm not gonna let you"  
"Relax. I wouldn't dare defile the trust and honor of a Jedi." Adonna-Lyn said, "I have no intention of doing anything of the violent or sensual sort to your fiance. I just wish to speak with John...but to do that, I have to get through Ben...as non-violently as possible, of course"  
Hanako regarded the echidna princess for a moment...then sensed that her intentions were pure.  
"Although, technically, I thought Jedi did not permit marriage." Adonna-Lyn said with a raised eyebrow.  
"Well, because of low birthrates on this world, we've been granted special rights to marry...besides, our people have a high number of people with sufficient midi-chlorian counts." Hanako explained, "And if I recall correctly, Neela's father was a Jedi...and for her to be his daughter, that would mean he would have had to get married and"  
"I get it!" Adonna-Lyn snapped, ending her explanation in a hurry, putting her right hand over her eyes. After rubbing her eyes, she then looked at Hanako and asked, "What would I have to do to see your fiance?"

Back in the Knothole Police Station...

Ben looked across the table at the blue-skinned perp. For the moment, John did nothing but look through the photos that were placed before him. To the wolf, John's reactions to the photographs reflected the look of a horrified parent, not a vicious murderer.  
"So...this is the first time you've seen these people?" Ben asked, keeping his eyes on John.  
"You don't like my kind, do you?" John asked, raising one of his silvery-blue eyes towards Ben.  
Ben was taken back a bit...but regained his confidence. So what if this guy was strong with the Force? He was no Jedi. "With a vengence..." Ben growled, "But let's stay on topic, shall we"  
"You're asking me to identify victims of my 'reign of terror'...and to be honest, I've never met any of these poor people." John replied, "I've already told King Max's malodorous messenger boy that I was on Chandral the whole time that these people were killed"  
A bit of snickering was heard behind the mirrored viewing glass...before there was the sound of a clearing of a throat.  
"So...is this just what you do on the side of bounty hunting"  
Ben asked.  
"I did not murder them." John said, glaring at Ben from across the table.  
"Just a bit of target practice?" Ben pressed on.  
"I DID NOT murder them." John insisted.  
"Or, is this just your way of blow off some steam?" Ben pressed further.  
John slammed his fists down on the table and roared at Ben, "I DID NOT MURDER THEM"  
Ben just barely jumped out of his seat at John's reaction...noticing indentations that the echidna had made in a solid durasteel...with his bare hands!  
Ben looked right into John's eyes. Even beyond those cold blue eyes, he could almost feel the heat of his anger.  
"Right, then..." Ben muttered, gathering the pictures away from John...with the echidna staring at him like a feral beast.  
Ben went into the room behind the mirrored viewport...where Jedi Master Dave "the Gold Jedi" Hedgehog and Jedi Knight Kenny the Vampire Bat stood.  
"So...whad'you guys think?" Ben asked.  
"To be honest, I don't know what's going on." Dave said while staring into the room where John was, "He has a powerful mind...either he's telling the truth or he's blocking me out...he might even be listening in on this conversation"  
"Great...so...it's true then, isn't it?" Ben asked.  
"If you are referring to that nonsense about us Jedi losing our connection to the Force, you're out of your canine mind." Kenny remarked.  
Ben growled and said, "Watch it, Fangs! Last I recalled, bats are just rats with wings...and if I further recall, my ancestors ate rats for breakfast"  
"Enough! Both of you!" Dave said, "Ben, you're about to get a visitor"  
"What?!" Ben shouted in disbelief...just as he got tapped on the shoulder by Max.  
"Lady to see ya in your office, Chief." Max said, "And MAN, WHAT A LADY!!!"

Ben went in, vehemently hoping that the lady in question was Hanako Fairhall, his fiance. Imagine his dismay...when seated in front of his desk was the one race on Mobius he despised...an Echidna!  
"Never mind a very lovely one..." Ben thought, looking into those haunting purple eyes of hers. Her hair was purple, too. Her skin, however, was dark red...well, wherever the skin showed.  
She was dressed in atire that seemed formal, business-like, even...although her pants were a bit baggy, simple black slipper-type shoes on her feet, a fancy scarf wrapped around her face (exluding her eyes), a top that cut off at the midriff and had baggy sleeves...who was this?  
"You are Captain Wolfson, I presume?" the female echidna asked, her voice very much charming...but also direct and to the point.  
"Please...call me Ben, Miss...?" Ben said, trying to remain formal...even to this female echidna.  
"Mrs., actually...Mrs. John Echidna...but you can refer to me as Adonna-Lyn." the female echidna said, lowering the scarf from her face.  
"Whoa..." Ben thought to himself, "Either they're into face-lifts on that floating bit of astroturf...or that is the shortest-but-slenderest snout I've ever seen on an echidna"  
"I am to understand that my dear husband has been arrested and brought here...why?" Adonna-Lyn asked.  
"Well, so far, for questioning...as it is, he stands accused of kidnapping and murder." Ben stated, "All I want is to ascertain the truth. Believe me, Adonna-Lyn, I want to prove his innocence...he's been a boon to the war we held against Robotnik...and he's arrested perps better than my own men seem capable of doing...however, a Jedi identified his prescence amongst the corpses"  
"I wish to speak with him." Adonna-Lyn said while getting up, "I...I'm so worried for him...and I need to know if he's okay"  
"I'm sorry...but I'm under strict orders. No visitations." Ben said.  
"That's...that's unfair! I miss him so much...what kind of cruel, cold-hearted person would keep me from the one I...I..." Adonna-Lyn wept...before breaking down into tears.  
"Oooooh, I hate to see a grown woman cry, no matter specie they are..." Ben thought to himself gloomly...

"Alright, you have FIVE minutes to be with him...I'm really putting my tail on the line for this." Ben said to Adonna-Lyn.  
"Thank you! Thank you, Ben!" Adonna-Lyn sniffed.  
"Remember...FIVE MINUTES!" Ben reminded her.  
"Believe me, you won't regret this!" Adonna-Lyn said with a smile as she went into the room where John was.  
Ben just slapped his right hand over his eyes and remarked, "I have a feeling I might"  
"Heh, you old softie!" Max lightly laughed, "Never could turn down a pretty face"  
"You mention so much as a syllable of this to Geoffrey Stench John and I'll relieve you of the burden of your job." Ben sneered.  
"As in vacation time?" Max asked meekly.  
Ben growled and said, "As in UNEMPLOYMENT, YOU NUMBSKULL"  
"Point made! Lips sealed!" Max said quickly...until his eyes widened and he pointed, "Captain...you might wanna look inside"  
"Oh, and interrupt a private moment in their limited time together? Nice try, Max." Ben snorted.  
"That's not what I meant...look." Max said, pointing towards Adonna-Lyn...whose skin was turning from dark red...to forest green!

"Oops...I forgot that's what happens when someone of Chandralite blood touches one who changes the color of their skin." John said apologetically.  
Adonna-Lyn slightly rolled her eyes and said, "Well, so much for my disguise...anyway, it's good to see you, John...I really miss you." She then embraced her husband.  
"Adon...I've only been here for about three hours." John commented.  
All of a sudden, he heard her voice within his head, "John, Heavy has found something. He wanted me to relay his findings to you"  
John looked and saw her eyes glowing faintly behind her closed eyelids as she hugged him. He knew that she was communicating with him telepathically. He knew what he had to do then.  
"Well, be it three hours or a hundred, I miss you, too." John said as he hugged her back...while telepathically asking, "What kind of findings"  
"How I wish you didn't have to be here, accused of such wicked crimes." Adonna-Lyn cried while running one hand along John's cheek...telepathically answering, "We found a scrap of flesh that had torn off from the being that attacked FICC. According to Heavy, it is deteriorating...and yet, trying to reheal itself. However, its genetic structure, or however Heavy put it, doesn't match anything in your base's databanks"  
"I see..." John telepathically replied, before he physically said "Believe me, I'd rather be on the outside, finding out whoever...or whatever, put me in this situation"  
"Oh, John, if there was only something I could do..." Adonna-Lyn spoke...while mentally asking, "So, what do you want us to do"  
"Head to the Knothole Morgue...and have Heavy take a look at the victims' bodies. This might provide us with a clue as to who is impersonating me." John mentally instructed, as he said, "Don't worry about me. I've been in worse scrapes than this...and by the Force, I'm gonna get out of this one"  
"Just...take care, my beloved..." Adonna-Lyn said as she then kissed him on the lips...while telepathically saying, "And you can count on me, handsome...I'll prove your innocence"  
"WITH the help of the Chaotix, of course. Don't go pulling solo acts and don't try to be a hero. Proving my innocence is gonna have to be a TEAM effort." John mentally transmitted to her.  
"Okay, time's up, lovebirds. Knock it off or I'm gonna have to hose down the entire room...with you two in it." Ben said.  
As Adonna-Lyn left, she looked back at John, smirked and telpathically remarked, "By the way...you're a lousy actor." John smirked back at her and mentally asked, "Nice dialogue...who suggested it to you, Antoine"  
"Nope...it was Vector." Adonna-Lyn telepathically replied, her smirk turning into a smile.  
John's eyes widened with surprise...then thought to himself, "Well, I'll be a Kowakian Lizard-Monkey's uncle..."

Adonna-Lyn was well on her way out, holding back her tears. She just couldn't bare it, tough though she was...she really missed John. And to see the great "Hero of Chandral", and her loving husband, reduced to a prisoner...it was more than she could tolerate.  
Max came up alongside her, saying, "So, now that your hubby's in the brig, who might you be looking for in a new love interest"  
She needed to vent...and now, someone just decided to help with that.  
"Sorry, slick. We echidnas hold our marital bonds quite seriously...so do the galaxy a favor and learn a new pick-up line." Adonna-Lyn remarked, gently pushing Max away.  
"Whoa, babe, no need to be like that." Max said, getting his hand close to her tail...which, of course, was non-existent on the Chandralite echidnas...so instead, his hand came upon...well, you know. "What the hell"  
Adonna-Lyn clenched her fists as well as her teeth. Enough was enough..."YOU PERVERT!" she yelled as she whipped around and punched Max so hard, he practically flew across the office and slammed into a pile of wanted posters!  
Ben rushed out of the interrogation room just in time to see a door into the police station slam shut...and see Max unsteadily stand back up, with his head poking through the mugshot on a wanted poster.  
"Geez, put an ad in the holos if you want to feel THAT wanted." Ben joked...just as Max fainted.

The prescence stirred awake.

"He has finally returned...about time...now, things were going to get interesting...now? Wait, wait, wait...what's that feeling, that familiar feeling...oh, yes...hunger...my, this gets tiresome..."

The prescence emerged from its hidden location. Hunger drove it outward into the night...the eternal darkness its power had perpetuated upon the land...with the darkness came fear...one of the other things the prescence fed upon...

"Your fiance's a regular boy scout." Adonna-Lyn mentioned to Hanako as she got changed aboard the cloaked ShadowHunter, "Wish I could say the same for those who serve under him"  
"Well, Ben tends to be a bit rigid, but he's really a nice guy." Hanako said while perching on top of John's bed in his quarters.  
"Well, he received orders from Geoffrey the stiff-ass not to admit visitors...good thing the whole sympathy act worked on Ben or I couldn't have relayed the information the way I wanted to." Adonna-Lyn said, with a playful laugh added at the end.  
"Yeah, he just can't turn down a crying girl." Hanako laughed...just as she felt a chill run down her spine. Master Dave told her that such a feeling meant the prescence of the Dark Side of the Force.  
Adonna-Lyn looked at Hanako and asked, "Are you alright"  
"I'm not sure...I felt a great disturbance in the Force." she said, her eyes wide with fear.

Back at FICC...

Neon decided to contact her good friend, Chrome Fingers Snake. If anyone would have any important information, she figured he'd have the inside track...now, if only he'd pick up on his end.  
She then heard Snake grumbling, "Loussssssy sssssstinkin' humansssssss, I oughta ban thesssssssse hairlessssssss apesssssss before they get too bold and decssssssssside to come in and sssssssstart drawing off my cusssssssomerssssssss...think they're sssssssso ssssssssmart, tryin' to whup me at ssssssssabacc...and now, the damn phone'sssssssss ringing...doesssssssssn't anyone ever do their job around here"  
As Snake got to his desk and finally answered, he brightened up and said, "NEON! Babe, how've ya been"  
"Peachy...bad news, Snake...my boss has been arrested." Neon replied.  
If looks could say anything, the look on Snake's face said he was about to have a heart attack. "THAT'SSSSSSSS HORRIBLE! ABSSSSSSSSOLUTELY HORRIBLE!!!" he screamed.  
"I know...your cash flow is cut off for a while." Neon said with a knowing smirk.  
"Yesssss...I mean, no. I mean, it'sssssss horrible that you've lossssssst your bosssss and good friend." Snake said, trying quickly (and ineffectively) to cover his greed up.  
"Eh, right...so, I'm sure that your network has been keeping up on events that have been occurring the whole time what we've been on Chandral." Neon suggested.  
"Er, yeah, hang on a ssssssssec..." Snake said as he began looking through the Spies Guild's records..."According to what I'm ssssssseeing, there wassssssss a bit of a dimensssssional disssssssturbancsssssssse in your neck of the woodsssssssss about a week ago"  
That scared Neon a bit. This happened when they just left for Chandral? "So, um...what kind of dimensional disturbance?" she asked.  
"From what I'm sssssssseeing, it looksssssss like a hole got ripped open...and then it closssssssssed again." Snake replied.  
"Great...just what we don't need..." Neon mused aloud, "Well, then that just leaves us with one big question: What the hell came through that hole"  
"Dunno...the image isssssss one big, black...blur." Snake said.  
Neon thought for a moment...then asked, "Where in my neck of the woods"  
"Checking...checking...Ssssssssandopolisssssss Zone...near the Quick Sssssssea." Snake answered after typing a few keys on his end.  
"The Quick Sea..." Neon thought to herself, "Where we clobbered the Dark Legion and the Order of Darkness...not to mention where Prince Jirrard was slaughtered by John. Hmm...he sure was cute...even for a chauvenistic creep...Whoa! Did that come out of me"  
She had to get her head on straight about this. John had to be exonerated for the crimes he did not commit. After all, besides being a better boss than ol' Doc Robotnik, he had proven to be a loyal, trustworthy, and kind-hearted friend. He deserved to be helped.  
But so far, evidence was heavily stacked against him. Besides, Jedi certainly wouldn't lie about something so serious as murder...and John's prescence is pretty hard to fake.  
"Ssssssso...sssssssshall we dissssscussssss payment?" Snake asked.  
"Only if your info holds true. Keep in touch, C.F." Neon said as she broke the connection.  
"Sure can pick your friends well, can't you?" Espio said, standing at the door frame, "How did you hook up with that overgrown worm"  
"Fact-finding mission for ol' Humpty Dumptruck. Somehow, Robotnik found out about Snake having connections to the Mobian Spies Guild and sent me to make Chromey an offer he couldn't refuse...under the penalty of roboticization, of course." Neon explained, "Well, long story short, Snake kind of took a shine to me and we kinda became...er...pen-pals"  
"Pen-pals, huh?" Vector snarled, an angry sneer on his face, "Looks like MORE than that"  
"Well, don't forget that he's a been a good friend to us, lending his services..." Neon said, trying to defend Snake.  
"As long as your mobiums shine..." Espio remarked, "Face it, Neon. That creep's a mercenary"  
Mighty then chimed in, "And I don't like how he's been trying to hit on Neela, either"  
Neon, afraid of losing the arguement, said, "Charmy, help me out here"  
Charmy merely shrugged and said, "Sorry, Neon, but I barely know much about him to pass judgement"  
"Thanks a heap, Charmy..." Neon said while getting out of the chair, "Look, guys, Snake just provided us with a lead that could help us get closer to getting John outta the slammer"  
"And what a fine friend you have." Vector said, his face lighting up.  
"You have no shame, you know that, Vector?" Espio snorted.

Back on the surface of Mobius...

Adonna-Lyn nodded towards Heavy and ordered, "Commence Operation: Surgical Search"  
Heavy replied, "Phase 1 initiated..." as he plugged in with his own input/output jack and quickly hacked into the Knothole Village Morgue's security systems. First, he created a loop in the security cameras, to make everything look as it should for the moment. Then, he deactivated the door locks and other such security devices.  
"Security systems shut down, your Highness...pfft, amateurs...it's a wonder these people won the war against my former employer..." Heavy remarked.  
"Alright, Phase 2...Neela, hand me the Chaos Emerald." Adonna-Lyn said, holding out her hand.  
As Neela obeyed, Hanako quipped, "Using the Emerald from your husband's ship? You're treading quite dangerously"  
"Think of it as a necessary good rather than a necessary evil." the echidna princess said...as her eyes began to glow with the emerald.  
A few thumps were heard inside of the morgue.  
Hanako gulped, "Are...are they"  
"Relax. They're unconcious...and for that matter, less susceptible to cause us any trouble as we gather evidence. Neela, stand guard here by the door inside. If something comes along that might derail our investigation, give us a whistle." Adonna-Lyn commanded.  
"Yes, your Highness." Neela said with a respectful bow.  
"Heavy, Hanako, you're with me." Adonna-Lyn said while she signaled them to follow.  
They were walking by the receptionist's station, the racoon on duty slumped over the desk, seemingly in a deep slumber. Hanako, however, saw it in a quite different light and let out a slight groan.  
"Would you just relax?" Adonna-Lyn said, "Like I said, they're just knocked out, not dead"  
"I know, but...they look dead...and I have this thing about...dead people..." Hanako whimpered, looking quite pale as she shivered.  
"It's alright, Miss Fairhall." Heavy tried to reassure her, "Don't forget that, with a total and complete lack of vital signs, it's highly unlikely that they're going to jump up and attack you...and if one does, well, we're here"  
Adonna-Lyn shook her head and said, "Look, just get a grip on yourself and relax. Jedi aren't supposed to show fear, remember"  
"Well, unlike one of us, I don't have a switch for my emotions." Hanako joked.  
"I can change that at will, Miss Fairhall...no switch required." Heavy stated.  
Adonna-Lyn opened the door to the main area of the morgue...the vaults. Hanako almost looked like she was going to turn as green as the echidna princess.  
"Necrophobia, I presume?" Heavy suggested, his head completely turned around and facing the echidna/mooncat Mobian, "It would certainly explain your irrational fear of the dead"  
"Dead people just creep me out, alright?! And it doesn't help that, being Force-sensative, I can practically see through the victim's eyes...see their...gulp...last moments." Hanako said, looking nervously at a recently operated-upon victim, "And would you PLEASE keep your head on straight? It's very unnerving"  
Heavy rotated his head to a more normal position and said, "Sorry"  
"Hey! Who are you people?!" one of the morgue's employees shouted, "You're not supposed to be in here! This is restricted"  
"Shriur-kackt...how did I miss this guy?" Adonna-Lyn thought to herself as she quickly dashed forward and had one of her wrist-spurs come out. She then stabbed the employee and held her spur in for a few more seconds...until he fell down. She then had her spur retract under her skin.  
Before Hanako said a word, Adonna-Lyn answered, "Echidna venom...just a knock-out. Not down for the full count"  
"Well put, your Highness." Heavy said as he lifted a sheet over one of the more recent kidnapped and butchered victims, "Now then...shall we begin"  
"Wait...I thought you were a mechanic, not a doctor." Hanako posed.  
"I have detailed files on many biological life-forms." Heavy replied.  
Hanako scornfully frowned and said, "Made you better at bringing down victims for roboticization, didn't it"  
Heavy sputtered for a bit and choked, "I BEG YOUR PARDON"  
Adonna-Lyn immediately got between the both of them and said, "That was then, this is now! Hanako, bring out any of the other victims and don't give us a hard time. Heavy, prepare for analysis"  
"At once, your Highness." Heavy stated, eyeing Hanako with a perturbed optic sensor.

Back on the Floating Island...Sandopolis Zone, Edge of the Quick Sea...

Espio grumbled, "We've been here for the past freakin' 2 hours...what the hell are you looking for"  
Neon turned to Espio and said, "Evidence, naturally"  
"Funny...looking for evidence looks a lot more like making funny marks in the sand..." Espio snorted.  
"Hey, guys! I think I found something!" Charmy called.  
The other Chaotix ran over to where Charmy was...and found that part of the sand had melted and hardened into glass...part of it had a dip in it, like a circular object had pressed down into it...or a portal opened into it...and near it were an interesting set of footracks...a couple had five clawed toes...another couple had triangular clawed feet...then it repeated for another couple of yards before it stopped at the edge of the Quick Sea...where it then melted and hardened into a bowl-shaped pit in the sand.  
"Dude...THIS IS MESSED UP!" Vector exclaimed.  
Mighty scratched his head and asked, "Well, whadya think happened here, Neon"  
"Well, Snake said there was a dimensional portal opening here." Neon said as she followed the trail, "Whatever made these footprints walked over the edge of the quicksand over here...then, to my best guess, either exploded or teleported"  
"And leaves melted sand in its wake?" Vector gulped, "What the hell are we dealin' with here"  
Neon got recorded holos of the footprints (it was evidence, after all) then said, "I'm willing to bet Mobiums to Republic Credits that whatever made these footprints trashed FICC and is responsible for framing John"  
"Hmm, someone's been a busy boy...whomever...or whatever it is." Mighty commented, a slight shiver runnning down his armor-covered spine.

Knothole Village Morgue...

"Subject 1: Cindy Ceraros. Age 18. Species: Racoon. Estimated time of death from initial disappearance: 9:42 PM, March 31st." Heavy started with the analysis, "Death was the result of a massive intrusion to the chest cavity with an edged weapon, and the complete severing of the head from the rest of the body. The shredded flesh in a wave-like pattern across the neck suggests that the victim's head was...bitten off, maybe even consumed"  
"Subect 2: Aesa Fairus. Age 19. Species: Flying Squirrel. Estimated time of death from initial disappearance: 8:36 PM, April 1st." the Mechanix Drone continued, "Death, once again, the result of a massive intrusion to the chest cavity with an edged weapon. Also, the head has been severed from the body...but cauterization of the tissue at the neck suggests the use of a heated weapon. The clean cut with said weapon would certainly warrant the assumption that the perpatrator uses a lightsaber"  
"A rogue Dark Jedi, perhaps?" Adonna-Lyn asked.  
"Not really. As I said with the first victim, her head was BITTEN off, maybe even consumed. Not many sentients in this galaxy eat parts of their victims...and you musn't forget that a JEDI identified JOHN'S prescence with these unfortunate souls." Heavy pointed out.  
Adonna-Lyn sulked a bit...until she saw Hanako and said, "Heavy, we have a Jedi right here! Hanako, see if you can find out who REALLY killed these girls"  
Hanako looked at the corpse of the second victim nervously. "I don't want to do this...Jedi who have done this have often gone mad...and worse..." she whimpered.  
Adonna-Lyn took up Hana's left hand. "Whatever happens, I'll be right here." she said.  
With that, Hanako nodded, got close to one of the victims, stretched out with the Force.  
"What do you see?" she heard Adonna-Lyn ask.  
"I see...mostly darkness...I can't move...except in circles...I am hung up...there are others here with me...the same way...I hear them...they are afraid...I hear deep booms...in the rhythm of footsteps...he...it...the one who caught me...he has arrived." Hanako stated, her eyes nothing but shrunken pupils, "He comes towards me...I can smell the stench of death from him...he looks at me...those burning red eyes...he looks at me like I'm a nerf for the slaughter...he severs the line that has me hung up...and grabs me with those massive hands...I can feel those claws digging into my back...he tells me, in that horrible, horrible voice, 'Time to go...'...then he brings out a lightsaber...ignites it...its blade is as red as his eyes...he swings it..." Adonna-Lyn heard Hanako shriek and she quickly helped her snap out of the trance she was in.  
"Okay...I'm okay..." Hanako said between gasps.  
Adonna-Lyn smiled, knowing Hanako was nominal...then asked, "Heavy, what is your final analysis"  
"Well, outside of causes of death, I haven't a clue. The only things these victims have in common are that they are all female and in their late teen years...oh...and one unfortunate detail...I found it on the last victim, then back-tracked...I hope you both have strong stomachs..." Heavy related. He then waddled to one of the shrouds...and threw the sheet away from the feet and towards the head.  
Adonna-Lyn gasped. Hanako gagged and ran off while covering her mouth.  
"Not a pretty sight? I agree." Heavy grimly replied.  
"By Chandrala...what kind of sick, twisted, psychotic bastard would do this?!" Adonna-Lyn shouted.  
"I don't know...how about the sick, twisted, psychotic bastard-types? Ha ha ha!" Heavy joked...but with a stern look from Adonna-Lyn, he said, "In all seriousness, your Highness,...I just don't know...wait...the bite wounds"  
Heavy quickly plodded over to the first victim, took a DNA sampling device and prodded around the wound where the victim's head used to be.  
"Heavy, what are you doing?" Adonna-Lyn asked.  
"Well, saliva is known to contain DNA. If I can compare it to our mystery attacker to the base, I can mostly likely find a match." Heavy replied..."Hello, what's this"  
He had noticed something dangling from the back of the neck...it looked like white, flowing silk that seemed to adhere to the fur...but it lacked the aesthetic flair of Adonna-Lyn's native clothing.  
"Hmm...curious..." Heavy said as he quickly took a sample.  
"What do you suppose it is?" Adonna-Lyn asked.  
"Touch it." Heavy requested.  
Adonna-Lyn looked at Heavy...then did so...it adhered to her finger. When she tried to pull it off with her other hand, it stuck to it!  
"What is this stuff?!" Adonna-Lyn asked as she continuously tried to pry the silk off of her.  
Heavy noticed a sink and said, "Over here. Let's rinse it off"  
"Okay..." Adonna-Lyn said as she did rinse it off...and it came off, "What in the world...there's only one type of material with that kind of reaction to water...Arachna webbing"  
"An Arachna? Here on Mobius?" Heavy asked, "Interesting notion, but...unlikely. Those things can't be tamed...especially not for this sort of depraved action"  
Hanako came back, cleaning her mouth with a towel, asking, "What'd I miss"  
"Our next big clue." Heavy said, holding up a vial containing the samples he took, "And now, we must make our exit"  
"Neela, is our exit clear?" Adonna-Lyn called...to her slight distress, with no reply, "Neela...Neela? NEELA"  
With that, she ran out of the vault room. Heavy and Hanako looked at each other, then ran out as well...where they saw bright green lights flashing as well hearing Neela's muffled screams...and a loud roar! As they rounded he corner, they saw Adonna-Lyn furiously blasting at...a black, massive creature of sorts...with a final blast from the echidna princess, the creature was launched through the door and into the night.  
Neela was on the floor, cocooned in the same material that Heavy found...but, fortunately, alive. Her emerald-green eyes were wide with terror. She was trying to call to Adonna-Lyn...but her mouth was covered by the silky, but strong material.  
"Hold on, Neela...hold on!" Adonna-Lyn said as she took her dagger and hacked away at the webbing that held her lady-in-waiting, "Are you alright"  
"Adon...that monster...it...grabbed me...those eyes...those horrible eyes..." Neela stuttered before collapsing into frightened tears.  
Adonna-Lyn helped Neela up and cradled her, saying, "It's alright, Neela. I'm here...and whatever that thing was, looks like I managed to spook it away"  
"I don't get it. Neela, you were armed. Why didn't you fight back?" Hanako asked.  
Neela regained her composure, then answered, "It...it looked like John...but...then...whatever it was, it changed shape...into that...that monster...then, its chest opened up...and then, I couldn't move"  
Heavy examined the shredded cocoon, as well as a bit of scorched flesh left behind from Adonna-Lyn's barrage on the creature. He then took out a sampling device and connected it to a long range transmitter.  
"This is Heart of Gold to Home Base. Come in, Home Base." Heavy transmitted on a heavily encrypted channel.  
"This is Brimstone, replying from Home Base. What's up, Heart of Gold?" Neon replied.  
"I'm sending you two samples to be cross-referenced and DNA-scanned." Heavy said while pushing the necessary buttons for the transfer.  
"Just a second..." Neon replied, "Okay, I'm seeing a match on the flesh samples...the silky material is...Aracha webbing"  
"Indeed...and I believe that whoever tore bits of FICC asunder is also responsible for the crimes of which our employer is being framed for." Heavy said, "We just encountered our perpatrator...well, Adonna-Lyn and Neela did...and for the latter, she almost wound up as the next kidnap-ee, had her Highness not intervened. We might need back-up for this. Bring the Home Team with you"  
"Roger that. Brimstone, out!" Neon replied.

Back at FICC...

"You forgot to show them what WE found." Espio said as he and the other Chaotix made their way to the Docking Bay.  
"We'll get to that when we regroup with the others." Neon replied.  
"Manoman, Neon...I don't know about you, but I've got a bad feeling about all this." Mighty said, "I mean, this guy's using Arachna webbing?! I don't think I need to remind you guys about the last time we encountered that stuff. We had a devil of a time getting it off the walls, floors and celings...and now, some psycho's using it for his own purposes"  
"I'm with Mighty on this one, babe." Vector said, "This is WAY too freaky. Handling psychopaths is usually John's speciality. He can out-think 'em with the best of 'em...not to mention beat them into an inactive pulp"  
"C'mon, guys!" Neon said, "You've been with John longer than I have...and this is how you show your loyalty and friendship towards him"  
Vector and Mighty's faces clearly reflected their shame.  
"Wait, who's gonna be in charge here?" Charmy asked, "I mean, Heavy wants ALL OF US in on this! That's going to leave the place completely unguarded"  
"NOT ENTIRELY unguarded." Neon corrected with a smirk before rapping on one of the maintenance pipes, "Bomb, everything all set"  
Bomb popped out of the opposite end of the corridor and "pinged" his response.  
"Um...damn, this is a time when having Heavy around would help." Vector remarked.  
"He said 'Everything is set and ready, Neon', Unit Vector." a female voice replied.  
"Thanks...GAH! Who said that?!" Vector screamed.  
"Boys, meet Aptiva's avatar. Heavy, Bomb, and I worked on making FICC's central computer a bit more easy to relate to." Neon gestured to the holographic figure of a teenage, female lizard. Numerous digits and symbols made up her body and her "clothes.  
"You had to give her CLOTHES?!" Vector disgustedly asked, "Man, you're a kill-joy"  
The last statements were rewarded with a swift punch in the face from Neon.

Echidnopolis Police Department...

"What's this? Letters of transit?" the large machine asked.  
It was fairly large, but bipedal in structure. His voice sounded electronic like most droids with the ability to speak, but it sounded far more sentient than most droids. His blue optic sensors glowed whenever he spoke.  
Constable Remington, head of security for the Echidnopolis Police, said, "I guess somebody below heard about your impressive work record, EV"  
"Really?" EV said, humor practically vacant from his voice.  
"C'mon, Escape Velocity, think of it! You have been recognized with the highest arrest record on the force." Remington encouraged, "Someone in the Mobitropolis Police thinks you're cut out to be on their beat"  
If Escape Velocity could smile, it might have shown...then he would have caught himself and stopped. Unfortunately, he did not have the distinctive facial features that would allow smiles or any sort of emotion shown by lips.  
"Well, the best we can do is help ya get packed up and ready." Remington said, "Got everthing you need"  
"Just...one last thing..." Escape Velocity said as he picked up a small holodisk...one he had to dust off a bit...he activated it...and saw a female version of his kind...he even gently ran one of his hands through the image. He then pocketed it in a comparment on his being and went out the door. He knew there was no other robotic sentient like him on this backwater planet...atleast, he had found someplace to atone for past sins, to do right for a change.  
Once he was outside of the city limits, he did what no other robot on this backwater planet could do...he changed shape! Within five seconds, he had completely transformed himself into a police vehicle.  
He put on incredible speed as he made his way to the edge of the Floating Island...and was suprised when he landed on something metal!  
"What in the name of Primus..." EV wondered. He then looked and found himself riding on top of a truck-shaped vehicle that, fortunately, seemed to be headed where he needed to go.  
"What the hell was that?!" he heard someone shout from within.  
To avoid a problem, Escape Velocity chose to use his own broadcast system and said, "Attention, citizens. I am a security officer in need of transport to Knothole. Since you are currently in transit to where I need to go, would you be so kind as to tolerate my prescence long enough until we arrive there"  
"What do you think this is, pal, a taxi service?!" a rather snide voice transmitted back, "Now, GET OFF! You're slowing us down"  
"Espio, this guy says he's a security officer...DO YOU REALLY THINK WE SHOULD PISS HIM OFF?!" another voice said inside the vehicle, "Sure, buddy. We'll be glad to ferry you to your destination"  
"Thank you." EV replied...then thought to himself, "By the Matrix...what bug crawled up this Espio's ass?"

Back in a hidden location...

"Arrrgh...that little dreadlocked bitch...I could have had a good meal...and a bit of vengence on the side...if she hadn't interefered...rrrrgh...how it burns...how it burns...I feel...so weak...must feed...I must feed..." the prescence thought, "Who shall it be...oh, Hell, why be picky? Anyone of them will do...this one...how her screams are music to my ears, her fear intoxicating...but how I soon tire of it...which of us do I satisfy...Wrath? Gluttony?...erg...Lust?...hmmmm...I think it's my turn"  
The cocooned girl screamed and writhed as bolts of Force-Lightning lashed at her body. It did nothing to burn the webbing about her body off...it only kept her from escaping her torture...she then felt the prescence slam a three-clawed foot down on her to keep her from wriggling away...then brought out what looked like a lightsaber handle...about the size of a small dog! A shaft of red, invincible light emerged from handle...and a second from the other end!  
She winced and prepared for what she knew to be the end...

Outskirts of Knothole, 9:24 PM...

EV rolled off of the FICC carrier craft and said, "Thanks for the lift, guys"  
Vector watched as the Transformer rolled away...then asked, "Did any of you guys see anyone driving that vehicle"  
"Does it matter?" Neon posed, "Now, let's get to our rondez-vous point before...wait a minute...You hear that"  
"Yeah...sounds like...ENEMY FIRE!" Mighty yelled...just as a beam of energy soared at the carrier craft!  
The Chaotix piled out quickly and got to some safe distance just before the craft exploded...then exploded again!  
"Wait...Bomb was just getting out...do you think..." Charmy asked, tears about to well up in his eyes.  
"Not to worry, Charmy." Heavy said behind him, "Bomb is capable of regenerating himself within me. So, who got him in a bunch this time?" As he asked his question, Heavy's midsection made a "DING!" sound, then opened up like a pair of closet doors...and out came Bomb, good as new.  
"Whadya think fired at us?" Mighty asked.  
"Might be that weirdo who hitch-hiked with us...hmph, last time we do a strange cop a favor." Espio snorted.  
"What strange cop?" Adonna-Lyn asked.  
"That's right!" Hanako said with a snap of her fingers, "I remember Ben saying he was getting some extra help from Echidnopolis. I guess you guys met him...or her...or whoever it was"  
"Try 'WHATEVER'." Neon replied, "This extra help sounded male...and yet, mechanical...like a droid"  
"Hmph...as if droids ever had such luck as security officers." Heavy commented.  
"COULD WE PLEASE CONCENTRATE ON WHO OR WHAT THE HELL FIRED AT US?!" Espio yelled.  
Adonna-Lyn caught something moving in the darkness..."THERE!" she shouted as she fired off a delayed psychic burst...that then hit its target and illuminated it...much to everyone's surprise.  
"Geoffrey St. John?!" Hanako gasped...as he was holding what certainly looked like a Disruptor Rifle...rather highly illegal weaponry to be holding on Mobius...well, it was. What was left of the rifle was held in both of Geoffrey's hands.  
The Mobian Skunk grinned and said, "My, wouldn't this be just the scandal...Hanako Fairhall, Jedi Knight-to-be and fiance to Captain Ben Wolfson, caught cohorting with enemies of the Kingdom of Acorn...the newshounds and paparazzi will have a field day"  
"More like the tabloids...because that's how it's going to stay, St. Jackass." Vector growled.  
"When are you fools ever going to run out of your nicknames for me?" Geoffrey said, his smirk growing wider...just as he whipped out a pair of blaster pistols and began firing with wild abandon!  
As Chaotix and Jedi took cover, Adonna-Lyn turned to Hanako and asked, "Is he always THIS belligerant"  
"Not THIS much...wait...there's something odd about him..." Hanako said, "I feel...I feel the prescence of the Dark Side about him...but that can't be. Geoffrey is about as much of a Force-Sensative as John's a free man...no offense"  
Adonna-Lyn frowned at Hanako's last remark, then dashed forward, using psy-barriers to deflect the blaster bolts flying at her. She then did a high jump...and kicked the weapons out of Geoffrey's hands.  
"You...I remember you...always spoiling EVERYTHING!!!" Geoffrey yelled...as he then pulled out a pair of vibroblades!  
"What do you mean 'spoiling everything'?" the echidna princess asked as she nimbley dodged every swipe of the blades, "And where the harak'tha are you getting all of these weapons!  
"Amazing what the Royal Police confiscate from out-of-towners." Geoffrey smirked as he continued his barrage of slices and stabs, "And as for what I said earlier, I could have had a more prominant position...if YOU hadn't interfered during a previous arrest of the Enforcer"  
"Oh, right...that..." Adonna-Lyn recalled as she finally laid in a couple of scratches on the skunk's arms with her fist-claws, forcing him to drop the blades, "Wait a minute...I blanked your memory of my being there! How did you?  
"Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh...went and got some 'psychic' help, dreadlocked BITCH!" Geoffrey said as he got a garrote around her neck, "Any of you goons get anywhere close, and she'll find herself short of breath...as well as her head. Now, drop your weapons"  
"If you insist." a mechanical voice said behind Geoffrey...just as a gun big enough to be a bazooka came down on his head. In a few seconds, the skunk reeled about...then fell down, unconcious. Adonna-Lyn unwrapped the garrote from around her neck...and saw the one responsible for her rescue from a choking, potentially headless fate...a tall, humanoid robot.  
"Greetings. I am Escape Velocity, Police Lieutenant, 1st Class." the robot said, "I'm afraid that 'Commander' St. John will have to answer to the serious charges of theft of police-confiscated goods, assualt, threats, and attempted murder...all of which will ruin his 'prominant position in life' even further, I'll warrant"  
"Thank you." Adonna-Lyn said, "Thanks for the help"  
"Protect and serve. That's our motto, ma'am." Escape Velocity said as he transformed into a police vehicle, "Now, if someone would be so kind as to...put him in"  
"Heh, now this is the kind of taking out the trash that I certainly have no qualms over." Heavy said as he and Bomb slapped a pair of magnetic cuffs on St. John and tossed him into the back seat.  
As Escape Velocity drove off, Hanako noticed that Adonna-Lyn had a worried look on her face. "Hey, what's up?" she asked.  
"Geoffrey's eyes...there was something familiar about them...in a very, VERY bad way." Adonna-Lyn replied.  
"Well, everyone...let's see if we can bring about a culmination of our investigative efforts." Heavy said.  
"Hey, boys and girls, bad news!" Vector said while doing some adjustments on his headset, "Just tuned in on the police frequencies...turns out John got into a fight with some human shoplifter...and got his tail tossed into solitary confinement"  
"Okay...that does it! I'm gonna go bust him out!" Mighty said, about to leave.  
"No, Mighty, you won't! Remember his orders?" Neon reminded him.  
"KARK THAT!" Mighty snapped, "This creep nearly got Neela...and that makes it personal! But even I'm smart enough to know that we're gonna need John to take the guy down"  
"First, Mighty, we have to figure out what exactly we're dealing with. You know the old saying, 'Know your enemy'." Adonna-Lyn stated.  
The Armadillo sputtered a bit...before sulking, "Yeah, I guess you're right...I'd just feel better if we had John with us."

Back in the hidden location...

"That idiot...that stupid Geoffrey St. John...I knew he'd kark it up...of all the incompetance..." the prescence thought to itself, "His desire for power and his own petty vendetta against John the Echidna made him useful...but in the end...nothing more than a liability...I should kill him...no...no...that would only reveal myself...ourselves...or end the life of the one I truly need...I'm done monologuing...you know what they say...'If you want something done RIGHT, do it yourself'..."

The ShadowHunter, John's on-board laboratory, 9:32 PM...

"Ladies and Gentlmen, thanks to all of our collaborative efforts, we have compiled several valuable pieces of evidence to prove that John was not involved in the events for which he has been blamed..." Heavy began.  
"Get to the point." Espio grunted.  
Heavy narrowed his optic sensors...then displayed the evidence.  
"Exhibit A: Scant bits of regenerating, yet disintegrating flesh from the true perpetrator. At first, we had no DNA matches on record. Exhibit B: Neon's find in the Sandopolis Zone near the Quick Sea. Evidence of a dimensional portal and our mystery perp appearing, then disappearing from the scene." Heavy went on, displaying holograms of the gather evidence, "Exhibit C: Arachna webbing found on the victims' corpses. We even managed to secure further samples from the attack on Neela...as well as flesh similar to what we found in FICC"  
"And that brings us...to what?!" Vector shouted.  
"More like who." Heavy said, pulling out a vial of a dark green liquid, "This is but a mere sample of John's blood...and yet, compare it to the flesh of our perp...and what do we see"  
Adonna-Lyn put her hands over her mouth, stifling a gasp. "It...it can't be! It's impossible!" she said, about to go to tears.  
"It's a match...with 3 notable exceptions." Heavy announced.  
That brighted Adonna-Lyn up.  
"The Chandralite DNA is far stronger here in the perp's DNA, but no match with the Chandralite DNA John has...plus Arachna DNA, gathered from our last bout with Brutus...and, quite chillingly, the midi-chlorian count is equal to John's...but corroded and deteriorating...traits more found in the Sith." Heavy pointed out.  
"A mutant?" Neon asked.  
"Demonic possession?" Espio suggested.  
"A clone?" Mighty posed.  
"To be honest...yes to all three." Heavy said, "Given John's accounts of our last bout with both the Dark Legion and the Order of Darkness"  
Suddenly, a powerful blast rocked the ShadowHunter!  
"In the name of...what's going on?!" Heavy choked.  
"I'll check it out." Adonna-Lyn stated, getting to her feet and running out of the lab.  
"Wait! What about what John said about doing this as a TEAM?!" Hanako called after her. Hanako then followed Adonna-Lyn to the main airlock...only to be halted in her tracks when she collided face-first into something soft, silky...and yet strong and adhesive! Arachna webbing!  
"Hanako! Hold on!" Adonna-Lyn shouted as she ran to help the mooncat-echidna mix free...only to have something slam down in front of her.  
"Not so fast, precious..." the thing before her hissed with needle-sharp teeth. It then seized her, hoisted her up...and then its chest cavity opened up...spraying her with webbing, chortling, "Heh heh heh heh heh heh, a royal banquet, all for me...I mean, us"  
Neon managed to reach the airlock and burn away at the webbing strewn about the area...just to see the thing sprout bat-like wings from its back and take off...with Hanako and Adonna-Lyn in tow!  
"Oh no, you don't...not on my watch!" Neon growled as she took to the air herself.  
"Go get him, Neon!" Mighty cheered on.  
"Singe that sonuvabitch!" Vector added.  
Neon and the thing went into aerial acrobatics as well as a dogfight...with Neon slinging fireballs at the creature...and oddly enough, the creature was firing blood-red blasts of energy back at the Detrossian.  
Neon soon realized it meant to catch her out in the open...a thought that became plenty obvious as it suddenly got in front of her. The chest cavity opened up and began to engulf her in sticky and strong webbing! Within seconds, she couldn't even flap her wings!  
An extra pair of arms "grew" out of the creature and seized her cocooned being. She then felt a sharp pain in her left side and watched as a black spike the length of her arm retract in the creature's wrist...before she blacked out.  
The others looked on in horror as the creatured turned to face them, grinned with a horrifying collection of needle-sharp teeth and laughed, "Three for the price of one trip...BWA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The creature then flew off.  
The remaining Chaotix looked at each other, fear in their eyes.  
Mighty, however, asked, "So...who's for bustin' John outta jail now"  
"I'm all for it!" Vector replied.  
"Me, too!" Charmy said, a determined look in his eyes.  
"Yeah, I guess so..." Espio answered.  
"Ping, ping ping!" Bomb cheered.  
"For all of our friends' sake, do count me in." Neela said, gripping her De'kar Stick's handle.  
Heavy sighed, "I know this goes completely against what John said, but I guess we have no other choice. Now, we must plan his escape carefully..."

Knothole Police Station/Jail, 10:30 PM...

"Alright, Charmy, you know the drill." Vector said.  
"Roger that!" Charmy replied as he flew in to the station.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice, Escape Velocity." Ben said, shaking hands with the Transformer, "I don't think I need to stress enough on the seriousness of the situation"  
"I was under the impression that the perp was apprehended and detained here." Escape Velocity posed, "So...is he, or do I have to book a flight back to the Floating Island"  
"Well, that's the thing. There have been reports of a strange creature flying around Knothole...and these seem to be related to the disappearances of..." Ben started.  
"HEY! Whadya think you're doing?!" Ben heard a voice yell, "GET OUT OF HERE"  
"Catch me if you can, copper!" a kid's voice seemed to taunt.  
Ben barely poked his nose out...just as something buzzed past his nose!  
"Captain! This bee just burst in here and began throwing things all over the place!" Max said...just as Charmy flew over and yanked on Max's ears!  
"Some cops you guys are! Can't even catch a cold, let alone, me!" Charmy laughed...as he dumped a pot of coffee on top of the Arctic Wolf Mobian's head!  
Ben growled as some of the coffee got on his jacket. "You little punk! You're under arrest!" he yelled.  
"Not yet!" Charmy teased...as he flew towards the door and went out!  
"I guess bug spray ain't amongst your arsenal around here?" Escape Velocity joked...just as the lights went out, "What now? You even forgot to pay the electric bill"  
"Captain! The door won't open!" an officer shouted.  
Ben ran to the main doorway...where his nose detected the smell of..."Honey? What's that insane little insect up to?" he wondered.  
Suddenly, he heard a poof behind him...and came face-to-face with an ochre-colored, scaly face. One with a horn on the nose.  
"Pleasent dreams, Captain." the being before him said before throwing down a black ball...which sprayed out a gas that quickly filled the office.  
Ben felt dizzy as he coughed and hacked...before he and his fellow police officers fell to the ground, unconcious...with the exception of Escape Velocity.  
"Cute...very cute..." EV commented as he saw a curled tail slip into the air vents...while leaving an ovoid object behind...which exploded and enveloped him in crackling, ionic energy!  
"Damn it! Ion grenaaaaaaaade..." EV grunted as he fell into stasis lock!

Outside...

"How are ya guys comin' along, Mights?" Vector asked into the hole, leading downward and towards the jail.  
"We're almost in position." Mighty replied.  
"Good...okay, Jedi-girl! Do your thang!" Vector said with one thumb up.  
Neela nodded. She then got down on her knees, closed her eyes and concentrated...

Inside...

John curled up within the solitary confinement cell where he was relocated to. How he hated being alone...far from his beloved wife, far from his friends...hell, far from ANYBODY to talk to! At this point, he'd rather be with Nibai than be by himself.  
His dreadlocks perked up at the sound of Neela's voice. She couldn't possibley be in there with him...then he slapped his head. Of course! How could he be so stupid?! Neela was Force-sensative! She was speaking to him through the Force.  
"John...you hear...?" he heard Neela Force-speak to him. She needed work on her concentration.  
"Yes, Neela, I hear you. Boy, am I glad to hear from you...or anyone, for that matter." John replied telepathically.  
"John...the floor..." Neela tried to tell him.  
"What about the floor?" John asked.  
John then heard a tapping...he recognized it as Morse Code...something the humans developed as a discrete form a communication. He put his right earhole to the ground and listened aloud, "Get...back...from...the...flo-...SHIT!" John shrank back and generated a psychic barrier...just as the floor where he put his earhole to EXPLODED! Afterwards, Heavy's head extended upward from the hole that Bomb put there.  
"Sir? Are you alright?" Heavy asked.  
As the dust cleared, he saw John getting electricuted, courtesy of the collar around his neck!  
"Get it off!" John yelled.  
"Right away!" Heavy said...just as he noticed Geoffrey St. John outside of the window on the door, his hand on a remote of sorts...pressing a yellow button on it!  
"What the bloody hell...?!" Heavy exclaimed "It pays to have friends in high places." Geoffrey chortled, "Which is more than I can say for your blue friend, robot...because I'm gonna send him back to Hell"  
"Not...while...I still...breath...!" John strained to say...as he aimed his hand out...Force-Pushing the door from its hinges and pinning Geoffrey against a wall behind him! The remote fell from his hand.  
Heavy quickly took the opportunity to get the collar off of John.  
"Careful! This thing is also rigged to explode and take some weight off of my shoulders...if you catch my meaning...no pressure or anything..." John warned.  
"None registered, sir...it's already off." Heavy replied, dangling the collar in front of John's nose.  
John shook his head and said, "I ordered you guys not to effect a rescue for me. Coming here was reckless, dangerous, and you know that...thanks"  
"Well, let us not dilly-dally here, sir." Heavy said, "I don't know how long the gas we released on the police here will last. We have to brief you on the situation..."

Back at the ShadowHunter, 10:41, PM...

"And that's the last we saw of the girls and the creature." Heavy reported.  
John pondered over what he had been briefed on...then asked, "Did you see which way this creature was headed"  
"To the northwest...not much there except..." Mighty answered...before he blanked..., "What IS North-West of here"  
John suddenly realized something..."Heavy, what did you say was on the webbing samples"  
"Several pollutants...as well as...salt-water?" Heavy reported...then became confused, "Sir, the only spot I know of where both of these chemicals are found are in a harbor on the west side of Robotropolis. It will be difficult getting through there, sir. They've got decontamination droids in the area, courtesy of a generous loan from the Galactic Republic...and those will be watched"  
"The droids, sure...us, on the other hand..." John said as he went for the bridge of the ShadowHunter, "We'll slip by them undetected...but not without leaving a message for the police..."

Knothole Police Department, 10:46 PM...

"Captain...Captain Wolfson?" Ben heard a mechanical voice say in a blurred state as the Mobian wolf recovered from the gas.  
"EV? What happened?" Ben asked as the Transformer helped him up.  
EV replied, "I think we just got a visit from this Enforcer's known associates, the Chaotix...even moreso...John the Echidna is gone from his cell...as is Geoffrey St. John...His Majesty sure pulled some strings to get that stinker out from behind bars and back into uniform"  
"Great...TWO fugitives on the loose..." Ben cursed.  
"By the way, this message came for you." EV stated, handing Ben a holodisk.  
Ben activated it. The blue, holographic form of John appeared.  
"Captain Wolfson, your fiance, as well as a couple associates of mine, have been captured by the true murderer. If you wish to end this killing spree once and for all, come to the Robotropolis harbor...and come alone..." the image displayed...before shutting off and disintegrating.  
"Fat chance of that." Ben growled, "EV, get Max on his feet and round up as many men as you can...I'm going to pay a visit to the Jedi Temple here...if that bounty hunter's truly behind all of this, I'll need the two Jedi who clobbered him the first time around."

Robotropolis Harbor, 11:00 PM...

The ShadowHunter touched down a short distance away from the target...a sizable harbor on the western edge of Robotropolis. Abandoned since the war against Robotnik, its cavernous interior and discarded devices laid there like an open wound in Mobius' history. And now, its empty grounds were being used as the lair of the mysterious killer.  
John made sure that his comrades were armed and armored. While not as techological or fully encasing as his own armor, the Ditanium-Alloy plates he had them wear over their arms, legs, torsos and heads would provide them with some degree of protection...and he made sure to equip them with the deadliest weapons he had collected from his time as a bounty hunter.  
"Alright, everyone, listen up!" John said, "Anihilation of the murderer is a priority, but the rescue of our comrades comes first. Keep those weapons armed and aimed in the right direction. Let's do this quick and by the numbers"  
"Roger that, bossman...and...good t'have ya back, bro." Vector said.  
"We all missed you." Neela said with a bow.  
John then commanded, "Neela, stay with Heavy on board the ShadowHunter. Heavy...if I'm not out of there in 10 minutes, use the ShadowHunter's main cannon and destroy that building. We can't allow this creep to live...even if it means that must I go down with it"  
"What? But...why?" Mighty asked.  
"Because, Mighty...inadvertantly...during our last bout with the Dark Legion...I became the architect of our murderer." John replied.  
"Uh...I don't get it." Mighty commented while scratching his left ear.  
"Isn't it obvious? The DNA of our perp had traces of MY blood...with Sith-infected midi-chlorians." John tried to explain, "Plus, when the Dark Legion was copying my memories (including combat capabilities and such), I threw in my less-than-morally-perfect half...the Enforcer. I figured that they wanted to complete Project Dark Guardian and I figured they would have to upload everything I knew into the clone"  
"Heh, so then, they'd wind up with another killing machine that would turn on them...er, no offense, boss." Vector said.  
"None taken." John replied, "I figured, with the Enforcer's bloodlust and love of destruction, he'd finish the Legion for us...maybe that happened...but I guess it wasn't enough. He IS a part of me...probabley as SMART as me, too. He must have found a way to open a dimensional gate from the zone the Dark Legion resides in and get back into our dimension"  
"Then how does that explain the webs?" Espio asked.  
"Well, we did force Brutus' spirit into the Void...it is possible that as the Enforcer passed through the dimension gate, his way and the Void's intersected, resulting in Brutus possessing the Enforcer's new body." Heavy interjected, "And, as for the gruesome bit of evidence we found on the victims, couple that with Neon's finding of footprints leading to the Quick Sea...and I think it's plausible that Jirrard's spirit has assimilated itself into the Enforcer's body, too"  
Everyone there paled at the thought of it...then the remarks flew, "MAN, THAT IS SICK!" "I think I'm gonna hurl." "How typical of that creep!" "PING!" "THAT FILTHY, SEXIST,...VERMIN"  
"Great, a triple threat..." John said, "Alright, everyone, compose yourselves! We're going in"  
With that, John, Mighty, Vector, Espio, Charmy and Bomb filed out of the ShadowHunter and made their way to the Harbor Depot.  
They stopped at an outside door. John signaled Bomb to the door and made several hand gestures. Bomb nodded, pulled out an input/output jack and wire from his mouth, and plugged it into the security panel on the outside. After several seconds, the door became unlocked.  
John went in first, checked that the coast was clear...then signaled to the other Chaotix to move in.

Neela watched from the ShadowHunter's cockpit as they entered the Harbor Depot. Mighty looked towards her...then gave a knowing smile. They were going to end this...and come out of this alive. Neela smiled back...and giggled as Vector grabbed the top of Mighty's head and got him inside, with the armadillo still smiling back at her.  
"Ah, young love." Heavy commented.  
"Oh...um..." Neela gasped at the suddeness of Heavy's comment...and blushed.  
"It's alright, Neela. I understand." Heavy said, "The boy does love you, you know"  
"I know, Heavy...it's just...I guess he's just shy." Neela said, "Well, not that I'M one to talk...I guess the both of us are having a hard time finding the courage to truly express it"  
Heavy rubbed his chin...then suggested, "Well, you could express it in the way a Chandralite such as yourself can"  
"You mean...the Par-nuun-sa?" Neela asked, "Oh...you truly think so, Heavy"  
"Well, I may be unfamiliar with biological relations of this particular nature...but it doesn't take advanced photoreceptors to see how much you two are linked emotionally...in fact...Mighty has more in common with you than you think." Heavy stated.  
"He does?" Neela asked.  
Heavy sighed and said, "Mighty's parents were captured and roboticized when he was just 7 years old...just two years behind John. Mighty had to watch from the safety of a nearby hideaway as his parents were taken away"  
"Poor Mighty...having to see something like that as a child." Neela said, Heavy continued, "During a Freedom Fighter raid on one of Robotnik's factories, the building collapsed...and most unfortunately, his parents were in there when it came down. I survived...they didn't. What was done to them was irreversible...especially since, besides being crushed under the rubble of the factory, they were hit with precision shots...quite accurate...I'd say military training far beyond what the Knothole Freedom Fighters ha...oh, dear"  
Neela sensed something and said, "You don't think...that...John"  
"No...what hit them wasn't blaster fire...and from previous raids, I saw that he would never attack roboticized citizens. I found what looked like small, rod-like objects close to the scene of their murder...similar to...why, that vile blaggard..." Heavy scowled, "After all...he encouraged King Max to start that horrid extermination of all Robians...why, Bomb and I could have been amongst those he would have gladly torn to scrap...Geoffrey St. John"  
Neela noticed that Heavy was looking past her...there he was. The skunk peered into the open door of the Harbor Depot...and ran inside!  
"We have to warn them! Geoffrey will ruin our operations here!" Heavy said, quickly going for a communicator...then put it down.  
"Heavy, we have to tell John and the others. Geoffrey will put us at risk..." Neela begged.  
"Yes...but so would my calling them up to warn them, if our quarry has acute senses of scent, sight, and sound." Heavy replied, "I'm afraid they're on their own...but I'm sure that the Chaotix can take down St. John...he is only 1 being to their 5...8, if you count John...as well as Neon and Adonna-Lyn if they are emancipat...ed...Neela? Where are you going"  
"To stop Geoffrey!" Neela said as she brought out her De'kar Stick and headed for the airlock.  
"Ugh, youth..." Heavy sputtered as he went for the airlock as well.

John and the others reached a large chamber, a warehouse of sorts. Crates of robot parts and assorted other things were piled about...however, that wasn't all that was in here.  
Suspended on lines of webbing were several young ladies...cocooned...not many of them moving...much to the Chaotix's disgust, because those that weren't moving were missing their heads.  
Two of them, however, shifted a bit. It was Neon and Hanako.  
"Thank goodness you two are alright." John said as he fired two psychic blasts at the lines of webbing above them and telekinetically lowered them to the ground.  
Hanako tried to say something to John...but her voice was muffled by the webbing over her mouth. "Hold on, hold on...what?" John said as he telekinetically got the webbing off of the mooncat/echidna mix's mouth.  
"Adonna-Lyn...that thing...it took her..." Hanako stammered.  
John, the fury growing in his eyes, asked, "WHERE"  
"Down that carved-out passage over there." Hanako indicated with an upward (from her position) look. John followed the direction to a hole in the wall...big enough to drive a Bantha on through!  
John then whispered to his comrades, "Okay, guys, you know the drill. Get Neon and Miss Fairhall out of here"  
"John...no...don't stay!" Neon said weakly.  
"I have to, Neon. If someone doesn't end this, it will start all over again...plus, someone I care deeply about is down there with that monstrosity. If something happens to her..." John said, gripping his lightsaber hard, "I don't know what I'd do..." With that, the blue echidna ran down into the hole...where suddenly, there were flashes of light...as well as sihlouettes of a cocooned figure writhing in agony...as well as a hideous figure aiming his hands out!  
"C'mon, guys! You heard the boss! We gotta get the gals out of here!" Vector called...just as an arrow took off his headphones and pinned them to a crate behind him!  
"Blast..." Geoffrey cursed as he armed another arrow into his wrist-mounted crossbow.  
"Oh...no, he didn't...HE DID NOT JUST DO THAT!!!" Vector roared, "HE DID NOT JUST TAKE THE 'PHONES OFF MY NOGGIN'! HE'S GOIN' DOWN"  
"If any one's going down, it will be you losers...as well as that freak you call your boss!" Geoffrey snarled as he finally armed another arrow into his crossbow, "Now, the next one of you that moves will get this through your head"  
"Leave my friends alone!" a female voice shouted behind Geoffrey...as he then felt himself flying through the air..revealing Neela, her hand outstretched. Much to everyone's dismay, Geoffrey managed to get back on his feet.  
"Well now, what have we here?" Geoffrey snickered with a grin, "A young lovely with an additude"  
Espio remarked, "Seems to be a lot of that going around... must be a virus or something"  
Neon just glared at Espio's remark.  
"Just keep away from my friends..." Neela said, her hand still outstretched.  
"What, you mean John's pathetic bunch?" Geoffrey jeered, "They're not even worth spit...you, on the other hand"  
"You take one more step towards her and I'll.." Mighty growled as he rushed at Geoffrey...only to be tripped...and wind up with Geoffrey's fist in his eye!  
That was the final straw. Neela jumped and kicked Geoffrey down to the ground!  
"Bloody..Jedi witch!" Geoffery spat.  
"Get up." Neela hissed at him, "I SAID GET UP"  
With one gesture from her hands, she practically threw Geoffrey towards the celing. He slammed into the celing and dropped back down...hard!  
Neela grabbed Geoffrey by his neck and put her left hand close to his face, "Well, you've seen what a Force-Push can do at long range...care to see what it can do at POINT-BLANK?! I've heard it can rip a Trandoshan's head off"  
"Neela, don't!" Heavy cried out, "Don't sink to his level"  
"Well, maybe he'd care to explain what TRULY happened to Mighty's parents..." Neela said, bringing the skunk face-to-face with Mighty.  
"What's she talkin' about?" Vector asked.  
Espio simply crossed his arms and said, "I dunno...maybe she's finally lost her mind"  
"Hey, lay off!" Mighty shouted, "Heavy, what's this all about"  
"I'll tell you what this is all about...YOU'RE ALL CRACKERS!" Geoffrey shouted, "She wants to take my head off and you're talking to a walking toaster oven"  
Mighty looked at St. John coldly...then asked, "Heavy, do you have a hammer on you"  
"Always..." Heavy remarked, opening up his chest compartment to pull out a hammer and some strong wiring. With that, Mighty clunked Geoffrey on the head and knocked him out. Heavy then proceed to tie the skunk up with the wiring...then threw the longer end around an overhead rafter. The robot and armadillo then hoisted Geoffrey off the ground until he was about 6 feet above it.  
Just then, a loud roar eminated from the hole nearby...

Down in the "lion's den"...

"So...you killed all of the geneticists they had?" John asked as he traded lightsaber blows with the vile creature before him, "Atleast something went right about all this"  
The creature was about twice John's size. Its arms were long, spindly, and ended in 5-fingered, clawed hands. Its legs were multi-jointed, with the feet changing spontaneously changing from humanoid to three-toed and clawed. Its chest was thin, skeletal...one could have almost seen its internal organs. Its skin (what part of it wasn't deteriorating) was a such a shade of blue, it could almost have been black for that matter.  
But its head was the most horrific sight. The dreadlocks were lined with spiky protrusions, like thorns. Several rows of spikes streaked across the top of the creature's head. Its teeth were needle-like and sharp looking...as if the rows of serated teeth around THAT row wasn't menacing enough...and finally, its eyes were a hellish mixture of vile green, Arachna's oddly reptilian orange and green...and close to the slit-like pupils, was a patch of red and yellow most commonly found in the Dark Lords of the Sith.  
All in all, John was facing off to a monstrous, dark mirror image of himself!  
"And yet, they weren't enough." the Enforcer (John could never mistake that harsh, gravely, almost mechanical voice) commented, "I made my way back to this world...but, as your pitiful little band deduced, the dimensional path I took somehow crossed with the Void...of which Brutus was banished to"  
"Which, of course, explains why the victims were cocooned and even EATEN!" John growled, "But why? Their deaths were unnecessary"  
"I'm getting to that, pup!" the Enforcer hissed as it used one swipe of its lightsaber to bat John away like an insect, "Naturally, that bulbous-assed glutton had to thrive within my body somehow...and as for that snivelling fool Jirrard...I just happened to have an extra seat...so to speak"  
John, trying to get back up from the blow he received, grunted, "From him, you got an extra boost in the powers of a Chandral Echidna...of course, he had to indulge in something contrary to Brutus' hunger and your anger"  
"And believe me, like your darker playmate here, it was nothin' I was particularly proud of." Brutus said, "I mean, c'mon! Where's the fun in his particular indulgence"  
"Something YOU'LL obviously never know of, nine-eyes...speaking of which..." Jirrard spoke through the creature's mouth...as it gazed at the cocooned and struggling Adonna-Lyn.  
"Oh no, you don't!" John exclaimed as he ran in between them, aimed his hand at Adonna-Lyn and Force-Pushed her out the creature's lair and out of the fray, "Now, it's just you and me"  
The creature lunged...then collapsed at John's feet. The former echidna bounty hunter watched as one of the dreadlocks on the creature's head shriveled up like a bit of bad fruit, detatched and collapsed to the ground, where it further disintegrated into a foul-smelling, bio-chemical puddle. The creature roared in pain as a new dreadlock "grew" into to replace the one it just shed.  
"So...that's why you've been killing these girls...you needed their very life-force to keep yourself together...and for that matter, alive." John deduced, "Because that's what happens when you stray so far down the path of the Dark Side...it eats away at your very being"  
The creature then swatted John away into a patch of webs nearby, with the Enforcer yelling, "DON'T YOU LECTURE ME ON THE NATURE OF THE DARK SIDE"  
As John struggled to free himself, he watched as the creature came closer and closer. The Enforcer went on to explain, "You see, I chose to implicate you in my dealings so that you would be drawn closer to me...because, you young fool, you've done something none of the Dark Lords of the Sith before us have ever truly achieved"  
"Getting married?" John joked.  
"NO! IMMORTALITY!" the Enforcer roared into John's face, "From my own studies within you, I realized that you had somehow found a way to balance the Force within us. Your light to my darkness"  
"Who's lecturing who NOW?" John muttered.  
"What was that?!" the Enforcer growled.  
John gulped, "Nothing"  
The Enforcer grinned and, while reaching for the back of his head, said, "Of course, now that you're here, I shall finish off an existence within this withering, crowded body...and get back into the body in which I belong." What the Enforcer was reaching for was a bloodied wire...with an input/output jack at the end of it.  
John's eyes widened with fear. He knew what horrible things the Enforcer did while the vile entity was in him...and how almost powerless he felt to stop it. "No...no...NO!" John shouted, trying to back away as the Enforcer got closer.  
"Ah, quit your whining...there will only be some minor discomfort." the Enforcer hissed as he reached for the input/output jack at the back of John's neck...and connected.  
John screamed in utter agony as the transfer began.  
"Oops...guess not." the Enforcer snickered...until he burst into an unholy chorus of laughter.

Adonna-Lyn heard the screams and laughter as Neon and the others began their evacuation. "John..." she gasped...before getting a determined look in her eyes and saying, "I'm going back for John"  
"Uh, princess...ARE YOU NUTS?!" Vector yelled, "John's practically facin' off to his inner demon...that...came out"  
"I don't care! He needs me now more than ever!" Adonna-Lyn shouted as she ran back into the building.  
"Man, somebody's gotta tie that girl down..." Vector remarked.  
"Yeah...but with what?!" Espio further remarked, "Have you see what she can do to a brick wall?"

Adonna-Lyn ran quickly to the scene...and was a bit unnerved to hear John's agonized screams turn to hideous laughter, followed by a "MAN, IS IT GREAT TO BE BACK"  
She then heard Brutus and Jirrard (oddly enough, at the same time), yell, "HEY! WHAT ABOUT US"  
The next voice she heard was so cold, it ran a chill down her spine. "What about you losers? To be honest, I'm glad to be rid of the weight you two put on me...while we're on the subject, I've got a riddle for you. How can two conflicting spirits exist within an already decaying body? 10 seconds..." the Enforcer hissed, "1...10! Time's up! The answer is...YOU CAN'T"  
She peered in...just to watch as the body the Enforcer formally inhabited began to disintegrate, becoming little more than a steaming pile of blue and black-striped matter...just as a white haze emerged from the goop...a white haze in the form of a titanic, arachnid form!  
"Not so fast there, spanky!" the ghostly form of Brutus yelled, "I might not be able to feed on flesh in this form...but I've always wanted to try something a little more...spiritual"  
With that, Brutus spewed out a line of white webbing...that actually went into John...and began pulling out his very soul!  
However, as Brutus did...the skin of John's body turned dark blue...with black stripes appearing all over him. Claws burst from his finger tips...as he actually put a hand to the line Brutus had and began releasing bursts of Force-Lightning that traveled up the line and began to actually shock Brutus!  
"HANDS OFF, ARACHNID! HE'S MINE!" the Enforcer yelled as he made his shocks even more powerful...until it was too much for Brutus' spiritual frame to stand. In a bright flash...Brutus' spirit burst, ectoplasmic tatters falling about the ground like confetti.  
As John's soul was assimilated back into his body, the stripes vanished and his skin returned to its usual blue hue. He panted heavily from what happened.  
"I've been out of this body for several months...and look at how you've let yourself get out of shape...can't even properly focus the Force..." the Enforcer hissed through his lips, "When we were together, the Force was far easier to command and control...we could burn away at people as if they were nothing but firewood and not break a sweat"  
"And you wonder why I wanted to get rid of you..." John said, about to go to tears..."I hate you...I hate everything you've done...everything you made me do"  
Just then, John felt a blow to the back of the head and went unconcious. Adonna-Lyn tossed away the iron pipe she used and then picked John up, saying, "Sorry about that, beloved,...but we've got to go...the calvary is coming and I think it would be best if we weren't here"  
With a bright green flash, both princess and bounty hunter vanished.

However, something squirmed...something crawled...out of the disintegrating mass...an echidna form...with green eyes peering out side-to-side. It then emerged...with brownish-blue skin.  
"Ah...about time those fools left." the voice of Jirrard laughed through the new body's lips, "Not quite like my old body...but not a bad catch, either...I can just FEEL the power surging through me...and with such power, no female will resist me...now, where to begin? Ah...how about that cute little dragon girl that's with that bounty hunter...she seems like my type...feisty"  
With that, Jirrard stretched out with his senses...he heard a female's struggles..."Interesting..." he thought. He then teleported outside of the building...and found a young, cocooned, female...well, it had the ears and face like a cat, and yet, dreadlocks like him...although more of the limp-noodle Mobian variety. He searched through what tattered bits of the original memory remained...and attatched a name to this individual: Hanako.  
"Not quite who I thought it was...oh, well. Beggers can't be choosers." Jirrard said, a conniving grin on his face...just as several bright lights in front of him switched on, blinding him! He heard the sound of several weapons being aimed at him.  
"STEP AWAY FROM THE GIRL!" Ben shouted over a loud speaker, his anger raging through his voice.  
Jirrard did what came naturally in a situation like this...he telekinetically brought Hanako right into his clutches...in front of him! "I suggest you lay down your arms...especially if you don't want to see any harm done to her by your own hands!" Jirrard snidely remarked.  
"He's bluffing. All I need is one good shot..." Escape Velocity whispered to Ben, aiming his own blaster.  
"Hold your fire!" Ben hissed, "That's MY fiance he's using as a shield"  
"Didn't you study in magic or whatever?" Max asked.  
"Yeah! But I can't risk hurting Hana!" Ben said.  
"So...whoever's in charge of these dolts has feelings for you..." Jirrard whispered into Hanako's ear, "That will work to my advantage...That's right, you law-enforcing incompetants! Keep back or the girl will get more than her hair cut." Jirrard had two fist claws come out to reinforce his point.  
Hanako, annoyed by such a stereoptypical statement, managed to get one hand free, aimed it behind her...and Force-Pushed Jirrard away and into the wall behind her.  
"Cut THAT, pervert!" Hanako gloated...only to fall face forward.  
Jirrard, now without his "shield", quickly ran inside the building.  
Ben rushed forward to help right his lady fair. "You okay?" he asked.  
"I will be when you get me out of this gunk...carefully. I don't want it tearing out my fur." Hanako replied.  
A speeder arrived on the scene...and stepping out of it was Dave and Kenny.  
"A bit late, aren't you, Jedi?" Max taunted.  
"We chose to be." Dave said.  
Kenny added, "And Ben, you might wanna get yourself and our fellow Jedi a good distance away from the building"  
They both looked at each other...then Ben picked up Hanako and ran to a good distance...just as the ShadowHunter de-cloaked...over the building.

Jirrard peered up through a hole in the roof in the main warehouse...and watched as one part of the ShadowHunter opened up...and a large, cylindrical object lowered and aimed downward. The tip of object began to glow green...Jirrard's eyes widened...the object was aimed at him.  
"Oh, shriur-kakt..." he cursed...just as a powerful, green beam of energy slammed into him, vaporizing him in the very instant!  
In fact, the beam took out a good portion of the Harbor building...leaving only part of it standing...namely, the part Geoffrey St. John was hanging from.  
"Don't just stand there! Get me down!" he shouted out.  
With that, the ShadowHunter retracted the main cannon, aimed away from the Harbor and zoomed out of sight.

On board the ShadowHunter...

Adonna-Lyn walked over to the door to John's quarters, where Neon was standing watch, and questioned, "How's he doing"  
"He's takin' having his morally-foul self back in his mind a bit hard. He's been in there for the past ten minutes, shedding tears...and saying stuff like, 'Adon doesn't deserve me...' You better go in there and have a hearts-to-heart talk with him." Neon replied.  
"Very funny..." Adonna-Lyn said dryly.  
As she went in, she saw John sitting on his bed, his face buried in his hands, tears cascading in between his fingers. He looked up when he sensed Adonna-Lyn nearby.  
"When I came for you...when we were in that room...I heard their screams...saw what they saw for the last time...and it's all my fault, Adon." John weeped, "I even put you and the others in danger...all because I attempted an easy way to rid myself of...you-know-who"  
Adonna-Lyn shook her head, put her hands on John's chin, and lifted his face to have him look her in the eye. She then said, "John...I know this won't be easy to live with. We all have our inner demons to face...our burdens to bare...but you don't have to carry this burden alone. Somehow...some way...I will help you relieve yourself of this inner demon. I promise"  
John sniffled a bit...then smiled.

The Enforcer brooded in his inner sanctum, deep within the darker recesses of John's mind, growling, "Go ahead, princess...spout your useless, gushy, hopeless advice...your kind may be immortal, able to live on for countless years...but don't forget...being immortal doesn't make you invincible...hmm...hmmm...hehehehehehehehehehehehehe...ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Epilogue...

Sandopolis Zone, 12:12 AM...

He felt...odd. He felt himself being lifted from the all encompassing darkness about him. It was odd because the darkness about him felt...wet and grainy.  
He finally emerged from the darkness...only to see the night sky. "What in the name of..." he heard himself say...as he felt himself finally touch down on more solid ground.  
"He has finally emerged, my lord...and, might I add, he's even more of an eyesore than he was when he was alive." a female voice remarked.  
"Heh, good one." a younger male voice laughed.  
His eyes adjusted...to see three figures before him. Two of them, a female kitsune and a male tanuki, were dressed in familiar clothes...namely those skilled in the Nimjaka arts back home...the one in the middle was so shrouded in dark robes, that he couldn't tell if there was even a person under it.  
"Who are you three?" he asked...now he remembered who he was. He was Prince Jirrard Calyon Echidna, ruler of Bumeria..."And how dare you mock my handsome looks! I ought to have you...GAAAAAAAAAAH"  
The figure in the middle extended a grey, furry hand...with some kind of gross organ in a small box of sorts...one that had sharp blades poking into the organ as he squeezed the box. Jirrard heard a thumping coming from the organ...and his face paled. It was one of his two hearts!  
"Just a gentle reminder, Prince Jirrard." a deep, low voice emanated from within the shrouded hood, "Betray my Order again, and I will not be as willing to return you from the dead"  
"Who are you?..." Jirrard strained himself to ask...just as the shrouded figure threw back his hood..."You...it...it can't be"  
"Come...we have much to prepare for." the third figure stated as the ninja-garbed kitsune and tanuki seized Jirrard and teleported away.  
The third figure stood there for few more moments...then vanished...

The end?...

Copyrights

John the Echidna, Adonna-Lyn, Neela and other such Enforcer Saga -related characters are copyright of John P. Fadeley.

Dave the Gold Jedi and Kenny the Vampire Bat are copyright of David B. Fadeley.

Neon Dragon, Caylis, Chrome Fingers Snake, and Nibai are copyright of Emma Goodman.

Hanako Fairhall is copyright of Hannah Lupton.

Ben Wolfson, Escape Velocity, and Max are copyright of Brian Caslis.

Transformers and all terminalogy and lore therein are copyright of Hasbro.

Lightsabers, the Force, and all peoples, places and things of the Star Wars Universe are copyright of George Lucas, Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox.

All Sonic peoples, places, and things are copyright of Sega, Sonic Team, DiC and Archie Comics (Btw, STOP MAKING YOUR SONIC COMICS SUCK SO MUCH)

SPECIAL THANKS

To Emma Goodman: Thank you for the use of your characters and for all the artwork you've done for me. Your artwork and characters have been a great inspiration to all of my work, including this one. Art on, Neon!

To Hannah Lupton: Thank you for your artwork and for helping me find the way through writer's block. You're one cool cat!

To Brian Caslis: Thank you for the use of your characters and for all the information you gave me on them. I will look forward to including them in future episodes of the Saga.

To all the major media companies: Your hardwork and dedication to your art have helped inspire my work and the works of others. Keep up the good work!

To the Almighty: And finally (and certainly not the least), I thank you, God, for nothing is possible without your divine influence and love. You have given me many talented friends and the talent to keep me doing what I do best. Watch over your children as we continue to bring about world peace.

A dark and confusing time is about to take place...as "The Enforcer Saga" dares to cross over into "Star Wars Attack of the Clones". All in "The Enforcer Saga Episode 12: The Growing Storm"! Don't miss it!!!


End file.
